Castle, Newcastle, Co. Westmeath
The ruins of Newcastle Castle in County Westmeath tell a complex story of medieval fortification and Victorian adaptation.
Castle, Newcastle, Co. Westmeath
What remains today is a rectangular tower, roughly 10.5 metres by 8 metres, standing two storeys high with stone vaulted chambers at ground level. The structure has been rather ingeniously incorporated into the farmyard outbuildings of Newcastle House, with one of its vaulted chambers converted into an entrance gateway bearing an 1855 inscription. The surviving southwestern wall extends for 23 metres and includes a small projecting garderobe tower, complete with its medieval toilet outlet still visible at ground level.
Historical records suggest this was once a much larger complex. The 1657 Down Survey map depicts it as a tower house fortification, and an 1837 Ordnance Survey map shows the garderobe tower positioned midway along a rectangular building, hinting at the castle’s original footprint. The property belonged to Thomas Tyrrell, an Irish Catholic whose lands were confiscated following the Confederate Wars of 1641;53, before being granted to Thomas Hooke, a former mayor of Dublin, in 1666.
Archaeological assessment reveals the castle began as a thirteenth century hall house, measuring 15 metres by 10.2 metres, containing a single room above vaulted chambers. The longitudinal cross wall supporting these vaults appears to be a later addition, whilst much of the northern corner and adjoining walls have been lost to time. The remaining structure showcases typical medieval defensive features, including thick battered walls and the remnants of a mural staircase in the southeast wall that once provided access to the first floor. Despite its partial demolition and nineteenth century modifications, the castle earned recognition as a Historic Monument in 1984, preserving what survives of this multi period fortification for future study.