What is recorded here

Rathneestin is a bawn in County Louth where a square castle and deep dyke vanished beneath soil and memory. It remains a castle field in local speech, not a ruin on a map. What is missing is not nothing; it is the part the land keeps back.

Field known locally as the 'Castle Field'. Reputedly the site of Niselrath Castle, a probable tower house, described in 1599 as 'a square castle and a great bawne with a good dytche rounde abowte it' (Paterson 1944, 321-2). No visible surface trace. The above description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 12 April 2012

Niselrath Castle, likely a tower house, was built in the late 16th century and is remembered for its description in 1599 as a fortified structure with a ditch, indicating its defensive role in the region.

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