Clongill Castle — Cluain An Ghaill

This is probably the ‘Mansion’ listed at Clongill in the Civil Survey (1654-6) (Simington 1940, 326). It is situated on a level landscape and attached to the W of the tower house (ME017-019001-), with the parish church (ME017-018001-) c. 150m to the NNE. This is an oblong structure (ext. dims 18.5m E-W; c. 7.3m N-S) of two storeys but much of the walls are obscured with ivy. Nevertheless, it has very few architectural features. At the ground floor there are only two large Georgian-style openings towards the E end of the S wall and one in the N wall, which also has a doorway towards the E end. There is a wide, round-arched opening (Wth 3.1m) towards the W end of the S wall that is probably not original. There is a large destroyed fireplace in the W wall with an oven attached. There is also a circular stairs tower (int. diam. 2m) at the SW angle, but the stairs must have been of wood. The S wall is recessed for first floor, but the N wall does not survive, and the only architectural features are two large window openings towards the E end of the S wall and a robbed fireplace in the S wall. The house occupies much of the S edge of a rectangular enclosure (dims c. 30m ENE-WSW; c. 20m NNW-SSE) defined by masonry walls that could have constituted a bawn, which is more likely to be associated with the house than the tower house. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 13 June 2016