Newcomen Castle — Knock

Situated on the W bank of a small S-N stream and at the N edge of a bog that extends off to the S. A structure is described in gothic lettering as Newcommen Castle on the 1837 ed. of the OS 6-inch map, but on the 1915 ed. the location has moved eastwards, closer to the stream. An overgrown cairn (diam. c. 15m; H 1m) of stone with mortar adhering at this location is probably spoil from the castle rather than a children's burial ground, which it is locally thought to be. This was removed in Jan. 2007 but no features were uncovered. A double carhouse of 18th or 19th century date c. 50m to the W is on the site of Newcommen Castle. In 1617 Knock belonged to Donogh McKeogh (Moore 1978, 60). A castle and a mill are marked at Knock on the Strafford map of c. 1636 and in 1641 Feogh Mc Donnagh Keogh held 116 acres at Knock. However, by the 1660s this had passed to Sir Thomas Newcomen, who had acquired an estate of 1000 acres in Taghmaconnell parish (Simington 1949, 102-06). The Newcomen family came to Taghmaconnell from Co. Longford during the Cromwellian period and are thought to have built near a Keogh castle at Knock, but had built Camlagh House (RO050-012----), c. 4km to the NW before 1740. (Moore 2000, 17) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 24 August 2010