Bawn, Kerinstown And Balrowan, Co. Westmeath
Bawn, Kerinstown And Balrowan, Co. Westmeath
The site sits just below a ridge summit on south-facing pasture, offering sweeping views across the countryside to the southeast, south and southwest. What remains today is largely a grass-covered mound of earth and masonry with irregular edges; no cut stones or architectural fragments are visible on the surface. The most substantial surviving feature is a vertical section of mortar-bonded masonry at the southwest corner, standing as the sole upright testament to the castle that once commanded this spot.
Historical maps and aerial photography reveal more about the site’s original layout than what meets the eye on the ground. The 1913 Ordnance Survey map shows a long, rectangular structure marked as ‘Castle (in ruins)’, whilst aerial photographs from 1970 capture the masonry remains within a much larger rectangular enclosure. This enclosure, measuring approximately 60 metres north to south and 100 metres east to west, likely represents the castle’s bawn; a defensive wall that would have protected the castle’s immediate grounds and any associated buildings. More recent satellite imagery suggests traces of the bawn’s southern boundary wall about 60 metres from the standing masonry.
Archaeological surveys have identified additional features that hint at the site’s former complexity. To the southeast of the castle, a sunken linear feature runs for about 100 metres, possibly marking the eastern boundary of the bawn. This shallow depression, measuring six to eight metres wide and no more than 15 centimetres deep, may have served as a sunken way or could represent another section of the enclosing wall. Together, these subtle earthworks and the solitary corner of standing masonry offer glimpses of a fortified residence that once controlled this strategic hilltop position, now returned to peaceful pasture.