Behind the current structure, a moat marks the site of an earlier castle that once stood here, though no visible traces remain above ground today. The Down Survey maps from 1655-6, created during Cromwell’s comprehensive survey of Irish lands, show a castle positioned in the southern portion of what was then called ‘Clonemoryne wood’ or ‘Wood of Clonemorne’. The accompanying terrier specifically notes “a Castle in repaire in Clonemorne”, suggesting the structure was still habitable in the mid-17th century.

The castle belonged to George Shee, son of Helias, who held the lands of Clonmoran along with Holdensrath and Sholdhamrath (now Shellumsrath) until 1653. As an Irish Catholic, or “Irish Papist” in the language of the time, Shee forfeited all his possessions during the Cromwellian conquest. His extensive property, which included not just the castle but valuable woodland described as “shrub wood & timber” in 1640, was divided between two Cromwellian beneficiaries: Overington Blunden and Captain Thomas Evans.

The Blunden family would later give their name to both the townland and the newer castle built in the 1700s. While the original medieval castle has vanished from the landscape, its ghost lingers in the historical record; a reminder of how dramatically Irish land ownership changed during the turbulent 17th century, when ancient Gaelic and Old English Catholic families lost their estates to Protestant newcomers.