Castle — Castletown (dundalk Upper By.)

The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 Built c. 1472 by Richard Bellew (Tempest 1943b, 184), probably on the site of an earlier de Verdun castle, and according to Wright (1758, bk II, 8) it was 'once defended by a strong wall and other works of circumvallation', presumably a bawn wall. It is a large tower house built of roughly coursed limestone blocks and rubble, four storeys high with four projecting corner-towers. The diagonally opposing towers at the NW and SE angles are larger than the other two. The tower at the SW angle has the stairwell and that at the NW has garderobes from first- to third-floor levels which are contained in separate chambers at the E side of the tower. The building was taken over in the 1940s by the Sisters of St. Louis and renovated for use as a school. However, Tempest (1943b, 180-95) made some attempt to record the monument prior to its recent occupation and has published elevations and plans (1943b, 187, 190). All four angle-towers project out beyond the line of the walls of the body of the castle on both sides, except for the NE tower which only projects to the N. Access at ground-floor level is gained through a doorway just to the E of the SW angle-tower. This leads both to the ground-floor area and to the stairwell immediately to the W of the entrance. The doorway is constructed of finely punch-dressed limestone and has a two-centred arch. The ground floor does not appear to have had a barrel vault over but rather a wooden floor. All the angle-towers on the ground floor were accessible from that level except for the SW one which contained the stairwell. This is unusual since most of the County Louth tower houses have the basal levels of the angle-towers solid or else access is gained from the first-floor level. The remains of a pit for the garderobe lie outside the wall in the NE angle of the NW tower. The first-floor level was lit by two large mullioned windows of limestone in the E and W walls and a slit ope in the N. Access to the corner-towers was from the floors of the main building through doorways and down rough steps. Apparently the floor level of the angle-towers was lower than that of the main building at the time Tempest recorded the tower house (1943b, 191), but he concluded that this was due to relatively recent alterations. In the SW angle of the main building was an almost square murder hole directly over the centre of the entrance passage which leads from the outside doorway. The second floor had three large mullioned windows, all of which have been altered or blocked up, and a fireplace in the S wall. This floor, which is covered with stone slabs, is carried on a large barrel vault. Access to the third-floor levels in the SE and NW towers is gained by stairs within the towers and not from the main floor area. Therefore whoever had the use of the main second-floor level also had access to the third level corner-towers, indicating that these were the important chambers of the castle. The SE tower in the E wall had a two-light window with ogee heads and hood moulding but this is not extant. All the floor levels of the SE tower are carried on barrel vaults. It is possible that this tower had a chapel at second-floor level and the chaplain's room immediately above. The third-floor level of the uppermost living area was carried by large joists and corbels. A modern roof had already been placed over it by the time Tempest (1943b, 191) recorded the castle. The NW angle-tower is cut off from the main floor area, as is the SE one, and access was from the lower level. At the E side of the NW tower is a garderobe which has two outlets. The fireplace in the N wall has been blocked up, as have the windows in the W and S walls. The corner-towers all rise above the level of the roof and contain small chambers. There is a wall-walk covered with large transversely-laid slabs slightly sloping outwards. Each angle-tower at roof level can be reached by short narrow steps from the allure. (CLAJ 1925, 1-2; Tempest 1943b, 180-95)