Castle — tower house in Grange Beg

Grange Beg Castle was situated on a low rise, in gently undulating pasture, 35m NE of the River Deel and 110m W of early 18th century Grange Beg House and c. 15m to E of a late 17th/early 18th century dovecote. Grange Beg Castle described in the 1655 terrier of the Down Survey map of Farbill Barony as one of 'two castles in repaire' (NLI, MS 723-4). The castle is depicted as a tower house type structure standing on lands belonging to Nicholas Darcy in 1640 on the Down Survey map of Farbill Barony (ibid.). Grange Beg House (NIAH Reg. No. 15402105) described in 1983 as '2 storeys over basement with an attic. The house is 5 bays, the end bays break forward having a lower roofline (no attic) & having no windows at ground level. The central doorway has a moulded architrave & is flanked by narrow side lights. Similar side lights now blocked up flank the central window overhead. Small attic windows in the gable. The house appears to be of late 17th c[entury] or very early 18th c[entury] origin'. Dovecote (NIAH Reg. No. 15402106) described in 1983 as following; 'Near the SW side of the rise [castle site] is the ruin of a circular pigeon house approx[imately] 3.5m high & 7m in diam[eter]. The pigeon house is built of limestone rubble, lined with brick within. Much of the brick now collapsed. Literally hundreds of pigeon holes can still be seen. There is a doorway in the SE side'. Castle shown on the Down Survey Parish Map of 1654-6 and mentioned in the terrier. Castle potentially depicted as a rectangular-shaped structure on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map. Monument described in 1983 as a low natural rise defined by scarp visible from NE-E-S and by a field fence from SW-W-N-NE. The top of the rise is wide and flat with slight hollows and rises indicating an area of disturbance in the past. According to local information, this is believed to be the site of a castle. Area of castle obscured by trees and vegetation on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 10 July 2019