5th Class History Project 2005
Milltown Castle
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Milltown Castle
Milltown
castle is a fine tall Norman keep. It is tall
and narrow, and on a fine day there is an excellent view from its battlements.
Nearby Dunmhaon Castle can be seen from the battlements but it is invisible from
the ground. In 1744 Isaac Butler mentions a cave near the Castle. Some say the
cave leads to Dunmhaon Castle while others say that it goes to the Round Tower
of Dromiskin. It is probably a
souterrian of a much earlier date than the castle and has perhaps a length of a
hundred feet or less. Milltown is traditionally one
of the older Pale castles. Most of the later towers were built from 1470
until 1620.
When
Milltown Castle was built, the sea was much closer to it than now.
Sand, shingle and cockleshells can be seen in the riverbed of the nearby
stream. In the early 1970’s a brick recess in the floor of the castle was
discovered. It was about a yard square and a yard deep and was probably used to
store food.
History
of Milltown Castle
Milltown
Castle was built by the Gernon family, who first
came Ireland with the Normans. In
1641 Henry Gernon of Milltown owned 2500 acres in mid-Louth.
Nicholas Gernon, Henry’s son, had no male heirs but he did have a
daughter, Margaret.
She eloped and married a Protestant army captain, William
Fortescue from Newrath, in 1681. This secret marriage is said to have
taken place at a grove of trees known as Mullaghrinn where Tommy Reilly’s
house at Milltown now stands. Nicholas
was not happy with the marriage and disinherited her in favour of his cousin,
Edward Gernon. But Edward had no
heirs and eventually was persuaded to leave Milltown Castle to Margaret. The
castle and all its property now became part of the Fortescue estate.
(The Fortescues took over most of Dromiskin). Margaret died in 1722 and there is a memorial to her in
Dromiskin graveyard. Fortescue now leased Milltown out. The Byrne
Family lived and farmed there in the 19th century and probably lived in
the Castle up until the 1880’s when a more modern house was built nearby.
The Byrnes eventually came to own Milltown Castle and lived there up
until the 1980’s. The Mathews live there now.
We visited the castle and talked to Plunkett
Mathews.
Plunkett’s
Interesting Facts
ü
Milltown castle is fifty-five
feet high.
ü
There was a murder hole
there, where the Normans dropped rocks on their enemies.
ü
The castle had rounded
edges, possibly so that the cannons would be deflected.
ü
The bottom floor is rebuilt with
wooden
steps.
ü
There are four towers:
the 1st tower is a kitchen, the 2nd is a hiding place, the
3rd is just blank and last but not least are the toilets in the 4th
tower.
ü
There are arrow slits
and a look-out hole in the wall.
ü
In Dunmhaon castle there was a battle but we don’t
know if there was one in Milltown.
ü
The castle is very old and it might fall at any
time, but it would take lots of money to restore it.
ü
Plunkett does not know why the Normans built
Milltown Castle on low land because they
usually built their castles on high land.