Castle, Lissian, Co. Roscommon
In the townland of Lissian, County Roscommon, a mysterious castle once stood on the eastern bank of the River Lung, at the very spot where the waterway takes a sharp turn northward.
Castle, Lissian, Co. Roscommon
The only evidence we have of this lost fortification comes from an estate map drawn up in 1811 for the Longfield family, now preserved in the National Library of Ireland’s manuscript collection. The map clearly marks a castle at this location, suggesting it was still considered significant enough to note in the early 19th century, even if the structure itself may have already been in ruins.
Today, visitors to this spot will find no trace of medieval stonework or defensive earthworks; instead, a farmhouse occupies what was once the castle site. The transformation from fortress to farm speaks to a common pattern across rural Ireland, where practical necessity often led to the recycling of old castle stones for new buildings, or the simple abandonment of defensive structures once their military purpose had passed. Local memory has forgotten the castle entirely, with no folklore or family traditions preserving even the faintest echo of its existence.
The River Lung itself provides the only constant link between past and present at this site. Its waters still flow past where the castle once commanded the landscape, though now they reflect only fields and farm buildings rather than battlements and towers. For the historically curious, the site offers a thought-provoking example of how completely Ireland’s medieval landscape can vanish, leaving behind only cartographic ghosts on old estate maps to hint at what once stood proud along these riverbanks.