Castle — unclassified in Kylebeg OR Banagher

The precise location of the medieval castle of Banagher has not been identified. The high ivy-covered perimeter wall of the abandoned Royal Irish Constabulary barracks measuring internally 42m E-W by 36m N-S was built on the site of the 17th century fortification known as Fort Falkland (OF021-003007-) which in turn may have been built on the site of the 16th century O’Carroll castle known as Banagher Castle. Fort Falkland may also have incorporated the fabric of a 13th century Anglo-Norman castle built by Richard Tuite (MacCuarta 1987, 157). In 1624 as part of the 17th century Plantation of Delvin MacCoghlan a new fortification known as Fort Falkland was built on the banks of the River Shannon at Banagher near the site of the earlier medieval castle. Fort Falkland (OF021-003007-) stands on the S bank of River Shannon at the NW end of Banagher town. The O’Carrolls appear to have re-fortified the Anglo-Norman castle site in 1544 when the Annals recorded that ‘The castle of Banagher was re-erected by O'Carroll (Teige Caech), in despite of the Clann-Colman and the O'Maddens, for they were at strife with each other’ (AFM, 1489). Four years later in 1548 the Annals recorded that, ‘The castles of Ely and Delvin were demolished through fear of the English, namely, Banagher, the castle of Magh-Istean [Moystown], and Clochan-na-gceapach [Cloghan]’ (AFM 1511). The settlement at Banagher appears to have continued and flourished into the opening years of the 17th century as in 1610 Sir John Mac Coghlan, Chief of Delvin Mac Coghlan was granted a market. By the 1620s plans were well underway to create a plantation town at Banagher which commenced with the construction of Fort Falkland (OF021-003007-) by Sir Arthur Blundell in 1624. Fort Falkland stood at the NW end of the town overlooking the river, a church (OF021-003001-) lay on the W side of the street and a number of burgage plots, the pattern of which is still distinguishable in the modern town, extended back from both sides of the street. Documentary sources with regard to the plantation settlement refer to just one house in the town - that of Sir Arthur Blundell which he built close to Fort Falkland (Loeber 1980, 133-4). There was a bridge (OF021-003009-) at Banagher by 1690 which, it has been suggested, may have been put up between 1671 and 1690 (Cooke 1875, 320-22). The present bridge dates from the 1840s and was built on the site of a mid 18th century predecessor (Bradley 1986, 12-19). Archaeological monitoring of the sewerage works by Jacinta Kiely in Banagher was undertaken in 1997 under licence no. 97E0444 as previously reported (Excavations 1997, 146-7). The trenches varied from 1m to 2m wide and from 1.5m to 3.5m deep. No archaeological stratigraphy, features or artefacts were recorded from the trenches on Cuba Avenue, Lusmagh Road, the area of the Marina, Crank Road or Main Street, or the areas of the pumping stations. A limestone wall, recorded in the manhole K1, and the return of a wall, recorded in the sewer trench between N4 and N3, were uncovered in the area of the Constabulary Barracks. It is possible that these walls were associated with the 17th-century fort. A ditch, 4m wide and 1.5m deep, was recorded in the rising-main trench between B3 (Main Street) and the Crank Road. Four fills were recorded in the ditch. No artefacts were recovered. The ditch may be the 17th-century town earthworks. It lies 15m south-west of the line of the town defences as proposed by the Urban Archaeological Survey of County Offaly. According to a plantation map of the town, which dates to c. 1629, the town was defended on three sides by an earthwork, linear in plan except to the north-east, where there was a projecting bulwark. No evidence of the earthwork was recorded in the area of M8, east of the Marina Pumping Station. A stone wall running N-S which forms the rear boundary of the hotel in Banagher may have been built on the line of the town defences. The site was in the centre of Banagher, to the east of Main Street, facing south onto Harbour Street. The development consisted of a cinema built in the 1950s that was in use for furniture storage and was to be redeveloped into a two-storey, seven-apartment block. The plans were changed during construction: the building was demolished, and a new building was constructed on the original footprint. Dúchas requested that a photographic survey be carried out, after being notified that the building had been a cinema. Monitoring was carried out in 2002 under licence no. 02E0250 on five service and wall-foundation trenches. The trenches had an average depth of 0.35m and a maximum depth of 1.4m. The main stratum of interest was a layer of garden soil found in all of the trenches. This was the remains of human activity from the 19th century at the rear of properties fronting onto Harbour Street and Main Street. Stuart Elder, Eachtra Archaeological Projects, 9 Riveroaks, Riverstown, Birr, Co. Offaly. 05D032, 05R036 Underwater assessment by Rex Bangerter took place under dive licence no. 05D032, 05R036 of a 150m stretch of the River Shannon, downstream of Banagher Bridge, prior to the redevelopment of a 19th-century mill complex on the southern side of the river. The development is located partially within the zone of archaeological potential established around the town of Banagher. A 19th-century gun battery (SMR 21:1) is located on the northern bank of the Shannon, in line with the mill complex. Further structures of architectural and historic importance include the mill site itself and the former Constabulary Barracks, dating from the 18th century and located across the south-eastern corner of the development. This structure is believed to be located on the site of a 17th-century fort, known as Fort Falkland. In addition, c. 5m downstream of the existing Banagher Bridge lie the remains of an earlier bridge structure, depicted on the first-edition OS 6-inch map and marked on Hermon Moll's 1714 map of Ireland. Despite the extensive historic activity located on either side of the Shannon at this location, the systematic visual inspection and magnetometer survey of the riverbed and attendant southern bank/quayside did not reveal any archaeologically significant material/features within the immediate impact area. Rex Bangerter, The Archaeological Diving Company Ltd, Brehon House, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 5 May 2017