Site of Old Castle — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Vesingstown castle stood tall enough for towers and a gateway when Robert Rochford owned it in 1640, but decay had already broken it into ruins beside a chaple and ten homes. That sudden loss of shape suggests the stones resisted human ambition rather than surrendering to it. The surviving bank and fallen masonry preserve the moment the castle stopped being a castle and became a boundary for fields.

A castle at Vesingstowne (29) in Dunboyne parish and barony is marked on the Down Survey (1656-8) barony and parish maps (http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/). It is represented as a large structure with towers, a chimney, and a large gateway. According to the Civil Survey (1654-6) Robert Rochford of Kilbride parish owned 170 acres there in 1640 including ‘an old Ruinous Castle, a decayed chaple and ten tenements’ (Simington 1940, 126). Within the large parish he also owned land at Ballymacolly (73 acres), Castletown (Caulstown 96 acres), and Cornellstowne (110 acres) (ibid. , 117, 126). The castle is depicted as a fragment of a wall (L c. 5m E-W) on the 1836 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. Banks and scarps, some connected with field drainage and a piece of fallen masonry are the only indication of the monument. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 10 June 2016

The castle at Vesingstown was likely built in the 17th century, as indicated by its appearance on the Down Survey maps (1656–58). It is remembered as an example of early modern Irish castle architecture and as a marker of local landholding patterns in County Meath during the post-Tudor period.

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