Site of Lady Mary Warrens Castle, Togher, Co. Offaly
The Site of Lady Mary Warren's Castle in Togher, County Offaly, presents an intriguing puzzle for historians and archaeologists alike.
Site of Lady Mary Warrens Castle, Togher, Co. Offaly
Though no physical traces of the castle remain today, its location sits on flat land alongside what was once an important togher, or causeway road, marked on the 1838 Ordnance Survey map as the ‘Togher of Croghan’. This ancient routeway would have been a significant feature of the medieval landscape, providing passage across boggy terrain that characterised much of the Irish midlands.
The castle’s exact location has been subject to considerable confusion over the years. The revised 1909 Ordnance Survey maps incorrectly placed the site, an error that was perpetuated on subsequent 25-inch scale maps. However, the earlier 1838 edition provides a more reliable indication; it shows a rectangular area marked with a dotted outline in a field west of where later maps erroneously positioned the castle. This cartographic muddle may stem from confusion with the nearby tower house at Toberdaly, which was occupied by Mary Warren according to the Down Survey of 1655-6.
Lady Mary Warren herself remains a somewhat enigmatic figure from the mid-17th century, though her presence in the area is well documented through the Down Survey records. The complete absence of structural remains suggests the castle may have been demolished or dismantled relatively early, possibly during the tumultuous period of the Cromwellian conquest or its aftermath. Today, visitors to the site will find only empty fields where this castle once stood, a reminder of how completely time and circumstance can erase even substantial buildings from the Irish landscape.





