Simonstown Castle (in Ruins)

Situated on top of a small ridge, in undulating pasture, with extensive views in all directions. A river lies c. 60m to S. Annotated on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as ‘Simonstown Castle (in ruins)’ within the W corner of a partially tree-planted garden plot. Annotated on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as ‘Simonstown Castle (Site of)’ and located outside to W of a garden wall which has been modified at this location. A tower house type castle is depicted in Simonstown on the 1655-9 Down Survey map of Rathconrath parish where it is depicted standing on lands owned by John Fitzgerald, an Irish papist, in 1641 (NLI, MS 723-4). Annotated 'Old Castle' on an estate map of Rathconrath dating from 1776 where it is shown as standing a short distance to the N of a field drain and S of a rectangular shaped farmyard ((NLI, MS 21 F. 48 (026)). Described in 1979 as a short stretch of stone wall located a short distance to W of the corner of a relatively modern stone garden wall. The old wall (approx. L 2.1m; T 1.6m; max. H 3m) is built of small, rough, undressed, limestone blocks laid in irregular courses and bonded with a coarse mortar. There are some loose and some grass-covered stones at the base of this wall which could be collapsed material. There are no dressed stones in the upstanding wall and no recognisable features. There are no signs of any foundations elsewhere and no traceable ground plan. An old, shallow quarry depression is located a short distance to N. It is assumed that most of the stone was taken to build Simonstown House and farmyard c. 30m to ENE. Castle site is visible at the corner of a tree-planted area on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 11 January 2019