What is recorded here

Mayglass castle belonged to the Dean of Ferns before Neville gave it to Roche in 1479, yet even the Down Survey could only point to its ruins near Courtlands East or West. The deed changed hands, the stones resisted memory, and the whole affair became a border dispute written in mortar rather than ink.

Mayglass was a manor of the Bishop of Ferns (Colfer 2002, 95). In 1569 an inquiry revealed that when Laurence Neville, Dean of Ferns, was installed as Bishop in 1479 he compensated his rival, Sir Henry Roche, with the Deanery of Ferns and the manor and court (or castle) at Mayglass (Hore 1900-11, vol. 6, 236; 1925, 31). A castle and three small houses are marked on the Down Survey parish map (1656-8) of Mayglass in a large plot of 314 acres that was owned by Richard Wadding. The terrier or commentary says that at Mayglass there are the ruins of an old castle and six cabins. In a description of Forth barony written c. 1680 by Synnott it is recorded that there had been an ancient house of the Dean of Ferns at Mayglass (Hore 1862, 67; 1921, 58). The location of this castle is not precisely known, but from the Down Survey map it would be located in Courtlands East or Courtlands West, in the vicinity of the Roman Catholic church and the school. For the Down Survey parish map see this web-page accessed on 27 September, 2013. http://downsurvey.tcd. See the attached view from the Down Survey parish map (N at bottom) reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland (Ms 725). Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 14 October, 2013

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