Castle - ringwork, Ballynagrenia, Co. Westmeath
Set amongst gently rolling pastureland in County Westmeath, the ringwork castle at Ballynagrenia stands as a subtle yet significant medieval earthwork.
Castle - ringwork, Ballynagrenia, Co. Westmeath
This defensive structure appears on the 1910 Ordnance Survey map as a subrectangular earthwork, but today presents itself as a roughly circular raised platform measuring approximately 20 metres north to south and 21 metres east to west. The monument consists of a central raised area defined by a steep scarp that drops about 2 metres into a surrounding defensive ditch, with an outer bank completing the fortification on its eastern and southern sides.
The defensive features remain most prominent along the eastern arc of the site, where a substantial fosse, roughly 5 metres wide, curves from the northeast round to the south-southwest. An outer bank, now lined with trees and standing up to a metre high, follows this same arc. Curiously, the western and northern portions lack these outer defences; instead, a collection of large boulders and slight earthen features at the base of the scarp suggest later field clearance activities rather than original defensive works. The interior of the platform rises slightly towards the centre, though no evidence of internal structures survives above ground.
Time and nature have taken their toll on this medieval fortification. Extensive badger setts riddle the earthwork, whilst quarrying has removed a significant section from the east-southeast to south-southeast. Despite this damage, the monument remains visible from above as a distinct tree-covered circular feature in aerial photography. Its survival in the landscape, even in this compromised state, offers a tangible connection to the Norman settlement patterns that reshaped medieval Ireland, when such ringworks served as fortified administrative centres for newly arrived lords asserting control over their granted territories.