This site, now mostly reduced to farm outbuildings, has a rich history stretching back centuries. The 1657 Down Survey map of Rathconrath Barony depicts a castle at ‘Shingles’, described as a tower house standing on the lands of James Dillon, Earl of Roscommon. The parish terrier of the time simply noted, ‘Upon Shingles standes a Castle’, confirming the presence of this fortification during the turbulent 17th century.

The surrounding landscape tells its own story of medieval and early modern settlement. Just 325 metres to the southeast, you’ll find an enclosure, a ringfort, and remarkably, the site of a 17th century military camp; a cluster of archaeological features that speaks to the strategic importance of this area throughout history. By 1837, when the Ordnance Survey mapped the region, the castle had already fallen into ruin, recorded as ‘Shinglis Court in ruins’ and depicted as a range of derelict buildings.

Today, visitors searching for the castle will find little evidence of its former grandeur. A survey in 1983 found that the site had been absorbed into the working farmyard of nearby Shinglis House, with no visible surface remains of the original castle structure. Modern aerial photography reveals only a single ruinous building where Shinglis Court once stood, a far cry from the tower house that once dominated this peaceful corner of County Westmeath.