What is recorded here

Cloonmacduff castle fell twice: once to men with carts for Lord Bellamont's mansion, once to men with hammers for a bridge. What survived became a ball-alley, then rubble, then grass. The rivers keep doing what castles forget. They take the shape back and leave it alive in water.

In level pasture, c. 60m SE of the confluence of the Ballysadare and Arrow or Unshin Rivers. The only visible remains are a short length of sod-covered foundation (L c. 4m; Wth c. 1.5m; H c. 0.6m) and two sod-covered mounds of rubble. According to O'Rorke (1878, 52-4), this is the remains of a MacDonagh castle erected in 1408, possibly on the site of a castle erected in 1124 by 'the Connaughtmen' to guard Connacht against attack from Ulster (McGarry 1980, 5). O'Rorke (1878, 52-4) states that much of the castle was 'pulled down and carted away to build Lord Bellamont's mansion in Collooney' (SL020-240----). Sufficient walls, however, remained to be converted into a ball-alley in the 19th century though these were 'thrown down and used as material' for a nearby bridge over the Arrow or Unshin River, a short distance to the N (ibid.). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of upload: 18 January 2008

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