Elfeet Castle, Elfeet, Co. Longford
On a southwest facing slope overlooking Elfeet Bay in Lough Ree, the remains of Elfeet Castle stand as a testament to medieval defensive architecture.
Elfeet Castle, Elfeet, Co. Longford
Dating possibly to the 14th century, this fortification consists of a rectangular ward measuring approximately 42 metres northeast to southwest and 40 metres northwest to southeast. The castle’s substantial curtain walls, built from rubble limestone and standing 2 to 3 metres high with a thickness of 2 metres, feature a distinctive base batter that’s particularly visible along the western wall’s northern end.
The castle originally boasted four square flanking towers at each corner, though time has taken its toll on these structures. The northwest tower remains the best preserved, measuring roughly 12.75 metres by 6.7 metres and standing about 2.5 metres high, though dense vegetation makes it largely inaccessible. The southeast tower underwent significant changes in the late medieval period when it was converted into a tower house, whilst the southwest tower has been reduced to mere wall footings. Of the curtain walls themselves, only the northern wall survives intact at 37.5 metres long; the remaining walls exist only in fragments, with sections of the eastern, southern and western walls measuring 8.8 metres, 15 metres and 9 metres respectively.
The castle’s interior tells a story of continuous occupation and adaptation through the centuries. Various buildings have been constructed against the internal wall faces, including a ruined house and outhouse along the southern wall, another outhouse against the western wall, and 19th century outbuildings and sheds along the northern wall. These later additions incorporated the original curtain walls into their construction, whilst more recent agricultural modifications include a cattle shed and crush built against the northwest tower’s external face. A modern tarmac roadway now cuts through the ward on an east to west axis, possibly following the line of the castle’s original entrance route, though the exact location of the medieval gateway remains unclear.