Ballyteean Castle in Ruins — Ballinteean

On 1838 OS 6-inch map this castle is shown on a small peninsula (55-60m N-S; 55-60m E-W) jutting into the N side of a lake, named Mullafarry Lough. The lake has been drained, and the castle now stands on a rise bordering a flat expanse of reclaimed damp pasture ground, sections of which are planted with coniferous forestry. The castle is indicated as a square building (max. dim. c. 10m), annotated ‘Ballinteean Castle in Ruins’ on the 1838 OS 6-inch map; the building is not indicated on the 1929 edition where the location is marked ‘Ballinteean Castle (Site of)’. Remnants of a rectangular masonry building can be traced at the E end of an elongated, roughly E–W rise (c. 40m WNW–ESE; 15-20m NNE–SSW): the grass-covered wall footings (Wth 0.5-1m; H 0.3-0.9m) outline a rectangular area (c. 7m N–S; c. 10m E–W), with a smaller, roughly square room/space (c. 4.4m E–W; c. 5m N–S) appended to its E side. The wall footings are not clearly defined, and vary in width and height. The dividing ‘wall’ between the two rectangular spaces is the most substantial, consisting of a grass-covered mound (Wth 2m; H 0.7-1m) from which masonry protrudes in parts. Towards the W end of the rise, c. 10m W of the above remains, the slightly sunken sub-rectangular feature (9.6m E–W, 5.7m N–S) can be discerned, of uncertain significance. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 2 May 2019