Durhamstown Castle
Durhamstown Castle | ||
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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 | |
Height: | 72 m ASLTemplate: height / unknown reference | |
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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
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.
swell
- History of the House . In: Durhamstown Castle . Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2019.