Syonan Castle

Situated at the E end of a small, low ridge running E-W, in undulating pasture. A small stream runs roughly N-S c. 18m to E. Annotated ‘Syonan Castle (in Ruins)’ on the 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map and depicted as a rectangular-shaped structure with a square building abutting to S and a range of buildings running NNE-SSW at SW corner. A large complex of buildings annotated ‘Corn Mill’ are located c. 20m to E. Syonan Castle described in 1979 a four storey high rectangular-shaped tlobby-entrance ower house (dims. 9m E-W; 7m N-S) in a good state of preservation, surviving to a height of approx. 15m. The walls are constructed of undressed limestone blocks laid in courses with an external base batter (approx. H 5m) and a rough narrow plinth at the base of the W and N walls. There are dressed quoin stones some of which have fallen out and lie on the ground a short distance from the base of the wall. The ground floor of the castle is currently entered through a doorway at the W end of the S wall which consists of a plain rectangular opening having no dressed stone. There is a blocked arched opening in the N end of the E wall which may have been the original doorway. There are a number of plain rectangular window openings in all four walls and some small arrow loops at the upper floor levels. Some dressed stones survive on the external faces of the slit opes. The opening of a garderobe chute is visible at the N end of the W wall. A thick cross wall runs N-S on the E side of the interior and is bonded into the N and S walls. This wall cuts off a narrow rectangular-shaped portion of the interior and is accessed through an arched opening with traces of wicker centering. It also has a small splayed window-like opening with a flat lintelled head toward the N end. There is a spiral staircase in the SE corner which gives access to upper floors. The stairs is blocked at ground floor level which is currently being used to store modern building materials. There is a stone vault over the first floor. There is a fireplace in the S wall at first floor level. Traces of plaster are visible on the internal walls in places. The outbuildings shown in this vicinity on the 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map have been removed and no traces remain. The remains of the old mill complex depicted on this map are incorporated into a farmyard on the opposite side of a small watercourse. Monument is visible today as a rectangular-shaped structure on Digital Globe aerial photography. Castle described by Salter (2004, 155) as following; 'Two ogival-headed lancets now reset in the tower [WM039-001----] at Tyrrelspass were recently taken from this four storey McGeoghegan tower measuring 9.5m by 7m which existed by 1566. The east wall contains the lobby of the original blocked entrance and a spiral stair in the SE corner. The second storey has a vault and a fireplace in the south wall. The third storey also has a fireplace on the south side, and a latrine in the NW corner'. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 22 November 2019

Syonan Castle is a ruined medieval structure noted on the 1910 Ordnance Survey map, though specific builders or holders are not recorded. Its importance lies in its historical presence as a local defensive or residential site, now remembered primarily through archaeological and cartographic records.