Site of Castle — Castlehill (erris By.)

In pasture, situated on a WSW-facing slope, 130m from the shoreline on the N side of an inlet on the inner reaches of Blacksod Bay. Expanses of bog stretch to E. There are no upstanding remains of this castle. It was recorded by John O’Donovan in the 1838 OS Letters as follows ‘In the townland of Knock a Chaisleain, now Castlehill, the foundations of a castle are shewn, and there are some old men living who have seen considerable portions of it standing, but I could find no tradition of its founder or last occupier.’ (O’Flanagan 1927, 331 (172)). It is indicated on the 1838 OS 6-inch map as a rectangular area (max. dims. 10-12m) outlined by a dashed line, annotated ‘site of Castle’, with a small farmstead of three rectangular houses immediately to NW; by the time of the 1920 6-inch edition, the location is marked simply ‘Castle (site of)’ and the vernacular farmstead is no longer indicated. Moran (1942, 150-1) reports the tradition that the castle was destroyed by fire, and that ‘it would seem from the Composition of 1585 and the Grant of 1612 that Castlehill was an early Butler property.’ There is a cross-inscribed pillar (MA044-008----) 70m to S. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 18 May 2021