The site known as Ratheenmore Castle exists today only as a name on ordnance maps, marking a spot where virtually nothing remains of what was once a medieval stronghold. According to the Down Survey of 1655–6, this portion of Templemartin was actually recorded as part of the neighbouring Rathermore townland, though the castle itself mysteriously fails to appear on either the barony map of Gowran or the parish map of Blackrath and St Martin’s.

The castle’s existence is confirmed only through written records rather than physical evidence. The terrier accompanying the parish map notes ‘upon Rathermore the runs of an old Castle’, whilst records from 1640 identify Peter Shortall as the proprietor of the lands. By the time historian William Carrigan wrote about it in 1905, he observed that the castle had been so thoroughly erased that it appeared ‘as if its foundations were never laid’. Even its placement on modern maps has proven problematic; whilst the Ordnance Survey marks its location within the townland of Lyrath, Carrigan pointed out that it’s incorrectly labelled as the ‘Site of Ratheenmore castle’.

This phantom fortress represents one of Ireland’s many lost medieval structures, casualties of time, neglect, and perhaps deliberate destruction. The confusion over its precise name and location; whether Rathermore or Ratheenmore, whether in Templemartin or Lyrath; speaks to how quickly local memory can fade when physical landmarks disappear. Today, visitors to the area will find only fields where the Shortall family once held their castle, a reminder that even stone fortifications can vanish as completely as morning mist.