Port Island, castle in County Cavan

What is recorded here

Situated on a small rocky island in Lough Macnean, c. 500m from the Co. Cavan shoreline and close to the border between counties Cavan and Fermanagh. Possibly the castle of 'Inis-Ochta' where Melaghlin Mac Rannall was imprisoned by Con O'Rourke in 1499 (AFM). Davies (1947a, 83) recorded the foundations of a circular tower (int. diam. 6.8m) comprising a wall of ashlar and mortar (Wth 1.37m) surviving to a height of 1.8m and having a marked batter. He noted 'three deep recesses with loopholes' and speculated that the doorway must have been on the first floor. He also recorded a number of small rectangular stone structures of uncertain age on the island including one on the W side of the tower which was not bonded into the masonry of the main structure. Island is densely overgrown with vegetation rendering inspection impossible. Not visited.

From the National Monuments Service (Archaeological Survey of Ireland) record CV001-006

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives: Recorded monument

Places near here

Photo credits

Kenneth Allen, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/9d/3a/d226702f3e0deddf6dc6f5d8e3e2.jpg Gallery: https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/M0006003.html Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-03): https://wellcomecollection.org/works/avsn99bm CC-BY-4.0, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
Eric Jones, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Eric Jones, Geograph · Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0
N Chadwick, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Anne Burgess, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
N Chadwick, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Oliver Dixon, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0