What is recorded here

Fenor Castle stands as a tower house on a steep slope above the River Boyne, where Walter Stanly and Sir Richard Barnwall held the entire parish in the mid-seventeenth century. A separate tower projects from the main house, its old military slits and vaulted base now subordinated to domestic stairs and larger windows. The building transforms defensive ambition into everyday utility, preserving the raw bone of a fortress inside the warm rhythm of a lived-in home.

Situated on a steep NE-facing slope down to a NW-SE section of the River Boyne that is c. 230m to the NE. A gabled house is depicted close to the church at Fennor on the Down Survey (1656-8) barony map of Duleek (http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/). According to the Civil Survey (1654-6) Sir Richard Barnwall of Crickstown (ME039-006----) and Walter Stanly owned 472 acres at Fennore, Johnstown and Bodnamrock, which was the entire parish, and the property included ‘one castle and a fishing weare’ (Simington 1940, 44). Projecting from the N wall of the house (ME019-036001-) is a tower that is not bonded to it. This has a base-batter and a slit window in the N wall, and it is vaulted over the ground floor. Two upper levels have large windows on the N wall and there is a gable over the N wall that was probably added. It was re-used as a stairs for the attached house. The parish church of Fennor (ME019-035----) is c. 40m to the N. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload; 22 June, 2016

Fenor Castle was likely built in the 17th century, with early references appearing on the Down Survey maps of 1656–58. It is remembered for its strategic location near the River Boyne and its association with local landholding in the Duleek area during the post-Tudor land settlement period.

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