Castle — unclassified in Castlehill (tirawley By., Crossmolina. Par.)

This castle is not indicted on the 1838 and 1922 OS 6-inch maps. There are no upstanding remains, and some uncertainty about its exact location. Castlehill House, a 19th century country house, located within a few hundred meters of the W shores of Lough Conn, is said to be built on or close to the site of the castle. The 1838 OS Letters record that the foundations of the castle were uncovered in the 1830’s during the construction of Castlehill House: ‘At the site of this castle, which lies close by Mr. Walshe’s new house in Keerhanann, alias Castlehill Townland in Addergoole Parish, there is to be seen a good deal of the rubbish of its foundations, dug up since the commencement of this new building.’ (O’Flanagan 1927, 183-4 (72-3)). Further details were recorded in another letter: ‘Tradition says there were two castles here, occupied one by William, and the other by Richard Barrett. Both fell in after times into the possession of the family of the Cormacks, who became extinct. We learn in the Annals of the Four Masters at the year A.D. 1526 that this castle and the castle of Crossmolina [MA029-039----] were demolished by O’Donnell –the words are:-“O’Donnell marched an army into Connaught at the request of the descendants of Richard Burke….He took the Castles of Caorthanan and Crossmaoiliona, in which he obtained many hostages and spoils, he threw down and totally demolished these castes in order that they might be no longer habitable. He afterwards established peace between the descendants of Richard Burke and the Barretts.” (Ibid. 352 (180). Aldridge (1986-87, 65) surmised that the exposed castle foundations mentioned in the OS Letters must have been immediately to W of Castlehill house, and notes that ‘one or two of the carved stones from it are incorporated into the garden buildings which stand there now.’ Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 14 August 2019