Emper Castle

Situated on low natural hillock in pasture with ringfort (WM010-001----) and area marked as 'Old Town' on OS 6-inch map 300m to SSW. Inny River marking boundary with County Longford 800m to N. According to Woods (1907, 5) Emper Castle was once the seat of the Dalton family. The 1654-57 Down Survey map of Kilmacknevan parish recorded in 1641 that Emper Castle and its lands then belonged to Sir Oliver Tuite who was described as an 'Irish papist' (NLI MS 723-4). The terrier of this parish map recorded that 'there are three Castles in this parrish lately ruinous vizt. in Emper one' (ibid.). The Down Survey map of Moygoish Barony depicted Emper Castle as a rectangular shaped tower house with possible angle tower standing on top of a natural hillock (ibid.). The place-name 'Old Town' marked on the Ordnance Survey 6-inch map may mark the location of the medieval manor of Emper which is referred to in a patent dated September 15, 1338, when Theobald De Verdon was granted the right to hold one fair on Wednesday in Whitsun week and for seven following days. Empor Manor is mentioned in this fair patent (Anon. 1853, 115). In 1837 the castle ruins were described in the Ordnance Survey Memoranda by John O'Donovan as 'nearly a square building being about 40 feet [12.2m] long and 36 feet [10.9m] broad, and so high that I could scarcely throw a stone over it. a fair is annually held close to it, but I could not learn whether this fair was established while the castle was inhabited or since it fell to ruin. That this was one of the Daltons' castles, though not in the barony of Rathconrath, we learn from Mac Firbhisigh' (Walsh 1957, 103-4). Emper Castle was described in the Schools' Collection (1937-39) as following; 'When this castle was built it was four storey high and now there are only two walls left standing. Around the castle there still remains some of the fortifications also a cave and outside that again an immense graveyard where some bishops are buried. Adjoining the castle is an old fort which is of Danish origin' (The Schools' Collection, Volume 0740, page 003). According to the Schools' Collection the local folklore recorded that the castle was built in 1170 by the Anglo-Normans for D'Alton family who were of French descent (ibid.). However the annals recorded that in 1405 'The castle of Imper was built by Andrew son of Henry son of Nicholas Dalton' (Ó hInnse 1947, 175). In 1610 Sir Hamond Le Strange of Hunstanton in Norfolk, heir of Thomas Le Straunge of Ballymore-Loughseudy, Co. Westmeath sold 'half of Imper castle' to John Jay or Gay of Holveston in Norfolk (Cal. pat. rolls Ire., Jas I, 252). Poorly preserved remains of a rectangular tower (ext. dims. 13.3m NW-SE x 11.7m NE-SW; int. dims. 9m NW-SE x 7.4m NE-SW; wall T c. 2.1m; wall T above batter c. 0.9m) standing two storeys high (max. H c. 13m), built with roughly coursed rubble with high base-batter visible on E face. The NW wall is the best preserved with large breaches in the NE, SE and SW walls. The NW wall is featureless at ground floor level with no openings visible. A straight sided opening located off centre to S in the SW wall may be the remains of a possible ground floor entrance into the tower. The springers of a stone vault covering the ground floor are visible in the NW and NE walls. According to Salter (2004, 149) the ground floor of the castle was divided with a cross-wall running NW-SE which supported the stone vaulting. A small rectangular shaped window is visible at first floor level in the NW wall. The low wall footings of a levelled rectangular structure built onto the SE side of the castle are also visible. Earthworks consisting of low linear banks and ditches to the NW, N, E and SE of the castle which are visible on Digital Globe aerial photograph taken November 2011 probably represents the remains of a levelled bawn (WM010-002001-).