Durhamstown Castle

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Durhamstown Castle
Creation time : 15th century
Castle type : Niederungsburg (Tower House)
Conservation status: well preserved
Standing position : Irish nobility
Construction: Quarry stone
Place: Durhamstown
Geographical location 53 ° 39 '14.5 "  N , 6 ° 47' 20.2"  W Coordinates: 53 ° 39 '14.5 "  N , 6 ° 47' 20.2"  W.
Height: 72  m ASLTemplate: height / unknown reference
Durhamstown Castle (Ireland)
Durhamstown Castle

Durhamstown Castle is a 600 year old tower house in the townland of Durhamstown in County Meath, Ireland . It was named after a Mr Doream and is now a guest house and restaurant.

history

Durhamstown Castle on a map from 1885

The exact origins of the building are not known, but the current structure is believed to be from the early 15th century.

In the 16th century the Tower House belonged to Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex , the Lord Deputy of Ireland under the English Queen Elizabeth I.

Sir Roger Jones, Lord Ranallagh , lived there in the 17th century , whose son Arthur was involved as Chancellor of the Exchequer in a scandal in which all Irish tax revenue was diverted to the holding of the maitresses of King Charles II of England .

The Thompsons lived in the castle in the 18th century and the Roberts family in the 19th century .

Durhamstown Castle is now owned by Dave and Sue Prickett , who bought it in 1996 and run it as a guesthouse and restaurant. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited buildings in Ireland.

description

Durhamstown Castle has four stories and the first floor has a vaulted ceiling . A tower with a square floor plan, the pointed arched door of which leads to a spiral staircase , can be found in the eastern wall. At the north end of the main building three tall chimneys are grouped together. Originally the Tower House is said to have been one floor higher, but the top floor was demolished after a fire. In the 19th century a one-story extension was added to the north.

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