What is recorded here

King James I granted Thomas Pettyt the entire manor of Mollingar in 1612, naming Loughan's castle and two adjoining houses inside the town. Sir Henry Piers wrote in 1682 that ancient fashionable castles still stood or had been demolished to make room for better buildings. The castle itself has vanished from every known address, leaving behind a ghost in the grant and a gap in the street.

In 1612 a land grant of the 'entire manor of Mollingar' from King James I to Thomas Pettyt [Petit] of Irishtowne mentioned the existence of 'Loughan's castle and 2 houses adjoining' (Cal. pat. rolls Ire., Jas I , 233). The precise location of this castle within the historic town of Mullingar has not been identified (Andrews and Davies 1992, 10). In 1682 Sir Henry Piers recorded that in the town of Mullingar (WM019-089----) there were, ‘ancient buildings here [that] were old fashionable castles (WM019-089001-; WM019-089008-; WM019-089010-; WM019-089029-; WM019-089030-; WM019-089032-), some of which remain yet, and some are demolished, and better or at least more commodious houses are built in their room’ (Vallancey 1786, 78). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 30 June 2014

Thomas Pettyt (Petit) was granted land in Mullingar in 1612 by King James I, and the grant noted the presence of Loughan's Castle, indicating it was already established by that date. The castle is remembered as part of the early 17th-century English colonial settlement efforts in Ireland.

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