Castle

The precise location of the medieval castle of Donore belonging to Richard Nugent has not been identified. In 1613 an inquisition into the property of the deceased Richard Nugent of Donore recorded that he possessed 1 castle & 240 acres of land in the townland of Donowre which formed part of the manor of Multyfarnham (Cal. inq. post mortem, 11 Jas 1). It is possible that a seventeenth century house (WM007-037----) mentioned in the terrier of the 1659 Down Survey map of Multyfarnham parish was built on the site of the medieval castle. There are no surviving remains of any medieval structure amongst the ruins of the 18th century Donore House which could have been built on the site of the medieval castle. Without architectural or cartographical evidence the precise location of this castle remains unidentified. Donore House was described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as following; 'Complex of multi-bay two-storey outbuildings/stables arranged around central courtyard, built c.1790. Ancillary buildings located to the north and to the west having remains of former walled garden. Now ruinous and out of use. Originally associated with Donore House (demolished c.1970). Cut stone plaque, probably the coat of arms of the Nugent Family, to the east gable of range to south range. Donore House was a three-storey late eighteenth Georgian block, demolished, c. 1970, after falling into a state of disrepair after the Land Commission divided the lands in the 1960s' (www.buildingsofireland.ie). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 13 April 2017

Richard Nugent held the medieval castle of Donore in the early 17th century, as recorded in a 1613 inquisition into his property. It is remembered for its historical association with the Nugent family, a prominent Irish Gaelic dynasty.