Castle — Townparks (ardee By.)

Known as 'Hatch's Castle', four storeys high and sub-rectangular in plan, it is constructed of uncoursed limestone rubble and greywacke. It is lived in and has been thoroughly modernised leaving little evidence of the original doors or windows. It has projecting towers at the SE and SW angles which are rounded, as are those at the NW and NE. Access to the castle is now through the modern doorway in the centre of the W wall but the original entrance was at the E end of the S wall. This gave access to the stairwell, which was in the SW angle-tower, and to the barrel-vaulted area of the ground floor. The doorway to the stairwell has a two-centred arch and is constructed of hammer-dressed limestone. The steps have been removed from the level between the ground floor and the first floor but are intact in the upper portions of the tower. There are garderobes at first- and second-floor levels in the NE angle-tower and the remains of one can be seen in the short mural passage at the second level. The second and third floors were wooden and were carried on corbels, but little remains of the original internal medieval features. At wall-walk level there is a projection in the centre of the N wall which rises above the parapet level and contains the chimney flues. The SW angle-tower, which rises above the level of the battlements, had a second storey to which access was gained by steps inserted into the N parapet wall. The wall and the top of the SW angle are crenellated but these are of recent origin. (Bradley 1984a, 275-9; Murtagh 1982, 66-72) The above 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: 17 July 2007