Dunmoe Castle ( ga, Caisleán Dhún Mó) is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

located near Navan, Ireland.

Location

Dunmoe Castle is located on the northwest bank of the Boyne, northeast of Navan.

History

The placename is probably derived from Irish ''Dún mBó'', " hillfort of cattle," suggesting that a Gaelic Irish fort was on this site before the later castle. The castle was built for the D'Arcy family in the mid-15th century and marked the western edge of The Pale. According to the Civil Survey (1654–6) Thomas Darcy owned the entire parish and on the premises there was ‘a Castle, a Church, a Mill, an Orchard and a fishing weare’. During the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland wi ...

in 1649 the Castle was fired upon from the south bank by passing troops on their way from

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

to Athboy, but avoided any real damage. According to legend, the occupant, George d'Arcy, entertained King James on the night before the Battle of the Boyne (1690) and King William the day after, inspiring the couplet: ''"Who will be king, I do not know, But I'll be d'Arcy of Dunmoe."'' The two-storey building attached to the east may be an 18th-century addition. A drawing of 1795 shows the castle intact. It was burned down during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Now only the two southern towers and some walls remain.

Building

The castle is an

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 *Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature *Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 1066 ...

donjon (keep). It was originally a rectangle (15 × 10 m, 16 × 11 yds) with a tower at each corner. Two of these towers have crumbled, as has the entire back part of the castle. The ground floor is buried but was vaulted and had a

loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

and arrowslits on the south wall. The newel stairs in the southwest tower have a

gun loop An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed out ...

. A nearby chapel contains the tombs of the D'Arcys.

References

{{Reflist National Monuments in County Meath Castles in County Meath