Indicated — Longfield

Situated in pasture at the summit of a low N-S drumlin ridge. A castle is depicted on the Down Survey (1655-6) map at Loughill on the county map or Lowhill on the barony and parish maps of Drumreilly parish where it is represented as a house with a chimney. See this web-page accessed on 25/09/2019 downsurvey.tcd.ie. On these maps Sir James Craig, a Protestant, is described as the owner, and the house was probably built in fulfilment of the land grant of a thousand acres he had received in 1620 and had taken up by 1622 (Mac Cuarta 1999, 130). Traditionally, this was an O'Rourke castle, but there is no supporting evidence of this. According to McParlan (1802, 90) the house, one gable of which was then standing, was captured by a Major Martin Armstrong after the battle of Cavan town on 11 February 1690 when Williamite forces burnt the town, but Armstrong lost his life at this battle (Childs 2007, 190-1). No archaeological feature was visible in pasture at ground level in 1991 (SMR file). See the attached view from the Down Survey bstony map (N at top left) reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland (Ms 717). The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Leitrim' compiled by Michael J. Moore (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2003). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revised upload: 10 October 2019