Coreen Castle (in ruins) — Coonagh West

Correen Castle also known as Coonagh was described by Westropp (1906-07, 82) as following; '1655 Counnagh, a gabled peel tower, marked (Petty 63). It was held by Barnaby Earl of Thomond (C.S., xxviii., p. 79). Fabric - A fragment of the west wall, 18 feet [5.5m] high, 2½ feet [0.75m] thick, stood in 1840’. In 1840 the castle was described in the Ordnance Survey Letters of Killeely parish as following; 'All the walls are destroyed except a part of the west wall which is eighteen feet in height and only two feet six inches in thickness. The extent of the foundations of this castle cannot be determined, as no trace of the other walls is visible and potatoes now grow on the space occupied by their foundations' (OSL July 13th 1840). The castle is annotated 'Counagh' on the Down Survey Map of County Clare. This castle is depicted as a tower house type structure standing beside a cluster of dwellings on the Down Survey Barony map of North Liberties (Hib. Reg.). The 1654-56 Civil Survey of Limerick recorded that Barnaby earl of Thomond and Sir Nicholas Comyne of Limerick held in Counigh [Coonagh] '2 fishing weares upon the sd River of Shannon whereof the one moytie belongeth to the sd Earle, and the other moity to the sd Sr. Nichollas' (Simington 1938, 451). There is no mention of Coonagh Castle in the Civil Survey of 1654-56. See attached 1657 Down Survey barony map of the North Liberties showing Coonagh Castle and the cluster of cabins. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 06 January 2020