Castle in Dundonnell, County Roscommon

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What is recorded here

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Situated at the S end of a low NNW-SSE ridge in a low-lying landscape. This is a subcircular grass-covered area (dims 48m NW-SE; 41m NE-SW) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 6-7.7m; int. H 0.6-0.8m; ext. H 3.2-3.8m) with traces of external facing-stones separated by a rounded fosse (Wth of top 9.8-11m; Wth of base 2-3m; D 1.8-2m) from an outer overgrown bank (Wth of base 6-6.2m; Wth of top 1m; H 0.8m) which is incorporated into a road bank NE-SE. The entrance (Wth 3.3m) and causeway (Wth 3m) are at NNE (max. ext. diam. 73m NW-SE). The late 16th or early 17th century house (RO051-047001-) is in the interior. It has been interpreted as a possible ringwork castle (Graham 1988, 28-9; Sweetman 1999, 197), and has been identified as the castle of Onagh that was built in 1236 and destroyed by Áedh O'Conor in 1270 (Curley 2011, 40-1; 2016). It has also been interpreted as a rath that was re-fortified when the house (RO051-047001-) was built (O'Conor 2007, 191-2).

From the National Monuments Service (Archaeological Survey of Ireland) record RO051-047002

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Photo credits

Maker not stated on source page, en.wikipedia.org
Maker not stated on source page, uk.pinterest.com
Maker not stated on source page, wanderaroundireland.com
Maker not stated on source page, www.roscommonherald.ie
Mike Searle, Geograph · Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0
Mike Searle, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Kmcnamee, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Maker not stated on source page, www.geograph.ie
Maker not stated on source page, www.visitgalway.ie

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