Bawn in Killegland — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Half a kilometre south of the parish church, a lost castle and its bawn still hold the river ford. Testing has revealed cobbled surfaces, mortared walls and a possible northern tower, while a demolition layer of mortar and slates suggests the castle was broken up rather than abandoned. The bawn may have measured twenty by fifteen metres, enclosing the castle on the bluff above the Broad Meadow River.

Situated on a slight bluff on the flood-plain of the Broad Meadow River with a W-E section of it c. 30m to the N, and Killegland parish church (ME045-004----) is c. 340m to the S. The castle is at a ford (ME045-005002-) of the river, described as ‘stepping stones’ on the 1836 edition of the OS 6-inch map. Archaeological testing (02E0708) by W. O. Frazer identified a double-faced wall (Wth 2m) with a cobbled surface on its E side that is probably the SW wall of the castle (O’Donovan and Frazer 2002, 14). A bawn is not mentioned in any of the sources but further testing (17E0335) by J. Stirland discovered a demolition layer of the castle in the form of mortar and slates found at several places overlying paved or cobbled surfaces. In addition fragments of mortared rubble-core faced walls (Wth 0.8-1m) were encountered at various points and their distribution suggests that they may have been from a rectangular enclosure or bawn (dims c. 20m NE-SW; c. 15m NW-SE) around the castle. What might be the base of a protruding rectangular tower at the N angle was partially uncovered. (Stirland 2017) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 13 December 2021 O’Donovan, E. and Frazer, W. O. 2002 Phase II – Archaeological Assessment Ashbourne Town Centre Development, Killegland, Co. Meath. Licence: 02E0708. Unpublished report, Margaret Gowen & Co.

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