According to the early 20th century historian William Carrigan, the town centre once bristled with several defensive structures, though pinpointing their exact locations today requires a bit of detective work. Writing in 1905, Carrigan noted that one castle stood where Mrs. Meany’s Grocery and Spirit Establishment operated at the time, whilst another occupied the opposite corner in Mr. James Pollard’s yard.

These two particular castles appear to have faced each other across the central crossroads of the town, with one likely positioned at the northwest angle and its counterpart at the southwest angle. Today, a two-storey building with a hipped roof stands at the northwest corner, its three bays facing West Street and two bays overlooking Bridge Street, with a shop occupying the ground floor. Whilst it might look like any other Georgian or Victorian commercial building, it’s entirely possible that medieval stonework lies hidden within its walls; remnants of the castle that once commanded this strategic corner.

The challenge of locating these lost fortifications speaks to the layered history of Irish market towns, where centuries of development have buried or incorporated earlier structures. Callan’s castles, likely tower houses typical of late medieval Ireland, would have served both defensive and residential purposes for the town’s merchants and minor nobility. Though Carrigan documented several such structures throughout Callan, the exact positions of many remain tantalisingly uncertain, leaving historians and archaeologists to piece together clues from old maps, property records, and the occasional discovery during building renovations.