Though nothing remains visible today, this spot holds centuries of Irish history within its soil. The castle that once stood here was described in the Civil Survey of 1654-6 as ‘a Castle halfe’, suggesting it was either partially built or perhaps already showing signs of decay by the mid-17th century.

The castle’s last recorded owner before the Cromwellian conquest was Richard Stapleton of Lainstowne, noted in 1640 as an ‘Irish Papist’, a designation that would have marked him for dispossession during the religious and political upheavals of that era. The Stapletons were among many Catholic landowners who lost their properties during this tumultuous period of Irish history, when Oliver Cromwell’s forces swept through Ireland, redistributing land from Catholic to Protestant ownership.

By 1840, when the Ordnance Survey Letters were compiled, the castle had vanished from view, though local memory still held its image. The surveyors noted that whilst no walls were visible at that time, elderly residents could recall when the castle walls stood ‘nearly perfect’, a poignant reminder of how quickly substantial stone structures can disappear when left unprotected. Today, visitors to Lyonstown farm would have no idea they’re standing on the site of a medieval stronghold; only the historical records compiled by researchers like Jean Farrelly preserve its memory.