Castle, Hurlstone, Co. Louth
In the borderlands between ancient baronies in County Louth, the Down Survey maps of 1656-8 mark a castle at Hurlestowne, number 63 in the parish of Smermer.
Castle, Hurlstone, Co. Louth
The detailed barony map of Atherdee places this fortification tantalisingly close to the boundary with Purcellstowne, though its exact location has been lost to time. What remains is a dotted line on a centuries-old map and the persistent whispers of local tradition.
The castle’s story survives primarily through oral history, with local accounts maintaining it was once a Taffe stronghold. The Taffes were a prominent Catholic family in Louth during the turbulent 17th century, and their allegiances during the Confederate Wars would have made any of their properties strategic targets. This particular castle’s inclusion in the Down Survey, Cromwell’s great mapping project designed to redistribute confiscated lands, suggests it held some significance before disappearing from the physical landscape.
Today, somewhere in the fields near the old boundary between Hurlestowne and Purcellstowne, the foundations of this lost castle may still lie beneath the soil. The mystery of its precise whereabouts continues to intrigue local historians and archaeologists, whilst the Down Survey maps serve as a ghostly reminder of the many fortifications that once dotted the Irish countryside, now existing only in cartographic memory and folklore passed down through generations.





