McSwynes Castle in ruins — Rahan Near

McSwyne's Castle: Niall Mar McSwyne, the grand-son of the first Chief of Bannagh, died here in 1524 (Verschoyle 1958, 40). The castle was described in 1601 as McSwyne Bannagh's tower and his chief house (CSPI 1600-1, 278). After the Plantations it came into the possession of John Murrey later Earl of Annandale, and in 1622 it was described as 'A ruinous Castle Rahan . . . with a bawn of lime and stone standing on a rock compassed 3 parts thereof with the sea . . . upon one side whereof there is an ancient building for lodgings of lime and stone, and a gatehouse newly built and some part of the bawn repaired, in which house, Herbert Maxwell with his wife and family dwell' (Treadwell 1953-5, 514). It was garrisoned by Sir Ralph Gore's regiment during the rebellion in 1641. After the death of the second Earl of Annandale in 1658, a long legal battle over the estate ensued (Verschoyle 1958, 40), and the site may have been abandoned at this time. The castle was used as a quarry in the middle of the 19th century when St. Catherine's Catholic Church was being built at Killybegs, and further material was removed to build the enclosing wall of the new cemetery in Killybegs in 1872 (Conaghan [1974], 117; Conaghan 1977, 55). In 1929 the fallen jambs and lintel of the window in the S wall of the keep were rebuilt and sections of the ruin repainted, in an effort to conserve them (Verschoyle 1958, 39-40). Situated on a promontory, the site is protected by a cliff on the N, S, and W sides, and by a slope cum fosse on the E. The fosse is now almost completely obscured by grass-covered collapse, and a modern drystone wall delimits the landward side of the promontory. To the E are the footings of an outer wall. There is a concrete observation post at the W end of the promontory, and the adjoining wall and bank are probably contemporary. Much of the bawn wall (DG098-019002-) which enclosed the promontory has fallen due to sea erosion. The keep is a mass of fallen masonry and only a section of the S wall stands to an estimated height of over 10m. Its W limit is indicated by the surviving corner stone of the S wall. There is no visible trace of the door-jambs noted by Verschoyle in the E wall of the keep (1958, 40). The keep is built of roughly, coursed rubble laid in a sea-sand mortar. The narrow rectangular window in the S wall is set in a sub-rectangular embrasure with segmental-arched head. There is a channel cut on the underside of the sill, possibly for a slop-stone. The concave outline, devoid of steps, of the spiral stairs survives on the SE. The first floor was supported on corbels and entered from the stairway by a door, the S jamb and interior recess for which survive. The second floor was also supported on corbels but was vaulted above, the skew backs for which are visible on the interior face. Nothing survives to indicate the extent of the upper apartments or roofing arrangement. The general layout of the keep confirms it as a typical tower-house of the 15th/16th century period. Casey (2001, 66) included this site in his survey of the coastal promontory forts of Ireland. However, the collapse from the bawn and the construction of the modern drystone wall on the causeway made it difficult to establish whether or not the defences pre-dated the tower house. The above description was published in the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been updated in the light of recent research. Updated by: Olive Alcock Date of revised upload: 27 January 2015