What is recorded here

Clonagannagh Castle belonged to Mulrony Duff O'Carroll in 1621 when Crown commissioners granted him the town, lands and authority to hold local courts. That much power concentrated in one hand suggests a busy household, visible roads and disputes settled under its roof. The castle later vanished from ordinary memory, leaving only a stump house near Alley's Bridge as a possible shadow of its site.

In 1621 the commissioners appointed by the English Crown for the plantation of Kings County granted to Mulrony Duff O'Carroll 'The castle, town and lands of Clonegennegh alais Clonagennagh…The above lands erected into the manor of Clonageneth, with power to empark 500a for demesne lands and to hold courts-leet and baron' (Cal. pat. rolls Ire., Jas I, xviii, 481). Clonagannagh Castle is depicted on the Down Survey (1654-7) map (NLI, MS 716). House known locally as 'the stump house' that is located to the east of Alley's Bridge on the south side of the road could be built on the site of Clonagannagh Castle (Stout 1985). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 May 2011

Mulrony Duff O'Carroll was granted Clonagannagh Castle and its lands in 1621 during the English Crown's plantation of Kings County. The castle is remembered as part of the broader colonial effort to consolidate English control in Ireland through land redistribution and settlement.

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