Site of Castle — Mountpleasant OR Tagunnan

Situated at a low point on a gently undulating landscape. The castle is depicted as a rectangular structure (dims c. 10m E-W; c. 6m N-S) described in gothic lettering as the site of a castle on the 1839 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. It is located just N of the moated site (WX047-003002-), and the church (WX047-004----) is c. 50m to the E, but no evidence of a structure survives. The Rochford family is associated with Tagunnan from the early 14th century (Jeffrey 1979, 39-41). A Hugh Rochford of Tagunnan is listed among the gentlemen of the county in 1608 (Hore 1920, 97), and Hugh Rochford had 131 acres at Tagunnan in 1641 (Simington 1953, 301). This is the Hugh Rochford who was sheriff of the county and commanded the rebels at the siege of Duncannon fort (WX044-015001-) (Hore 1900-11, vol. 4, 70). His son served with Charles II on the continent, but failed to secure the return of the Tagunnan land that had been granted to the Knox family in the 1650s and confirmed in the 1660s (ibid. vol. 4, 220-1 ft). The castle of Tagunnan is depicted as a tower with an attached house and two cabins nearby on the parish map of Mayglass in the Down Survey map (1656-8). See the attached view from the Down Survey parish map (N at bottom) reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland (Ms 725). Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 16 October, 2013