Kilmacar Castle

On the gentle W-facing slope above the river Gloshia c. 1km to the E. There are good views across and along valley from N to S, view limited to W by rising ground. Kilmacar medieval church (KK010-038001-) and graveyard (KK010-038002-) are located 60m to the ENE. The OS Letters (1839, 28-9) describe, 'a Moat on the other side of the road [from the church] on the west, with the site of an old Castle; this place is popularly called the Barrack' (O’Flanagan ed. 1930, vol. 1, 10). According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 202) the castle stood midway between 'the moat and Kilmocar church', and, 'it was occupied successively by the Pays, the Byrnes, and Charles Kavanagh [the latter lived in the 18th century] ... It fell on a St. Martin's night, about 1780, crushing to death a herd and his family, who happened to be living in it at the time'. The castle is indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map and 1947 revision as 'site of', however, a roughly circular feature on the 1st ed. OS 6-inch map at this location may be the 'moat' or barrow (KK010-038004-) which was removed in 1880 (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 201-02). It is not visible at ground level.