2002:1626 - ROSCOMMON: Roscommon Castle, Roscommon

The area to the immediate west of Roscommon Castle was within the area of a new park currently under construction by Roscommon County Council. The area around the castle was to be landscaped under the plan in order to incorporate it in the park and to make the castle accessible from the park. The vague remains of a possible moat around the castle were visible to the south and west. A substantial stretch of the moat was visible in the field to the north of the castle. This will not be affected by the proposed development. The landscaping around the castle was confined to defining the extent of the moat around this south-west corner and minor surface levelling of the area between the moat and the castle itself. No major excavation works took place.

Roscommon Castle is at the northern end of Roscommon town. The location of the castle was selected in 1262 by Robert d’Ufford, Lord Justice of Ireland, but building work did not begin until 1269. From then the castle changed hands a number of times and had a colourful but violent history. Each attack was followed by reconstruction work, much of which was carried out after the death of Aed Ó Conchobair in 1275–16 (H.S. Sweetman 1875–86). The castle was attacked and captured again in 1277, which led to a massive refortification project in 1278. These works included the construction of a curtain wall around the castle, ordered by William de Spineto in 1284. The refortification of the castle continued until 1290 (H.S. Sweetman 1875–86). A document dated to 1304 gives a detailed and informative account of the work, referring to the strengthening of the wall, with stonework 3ft (0.9m) thick, in order that it could be made 5ft (1.5m) wide and 32ft (9.8m) deep, and the repair and strengthening of three drawbridges and two portcullises. Also recorded was the building of two outer bridges and the addition of gates to existing bridges.

It has been pointed out by a number of historians that the overall plan of the castle is very similar to those of some of the castles in Wales that were built during the reign of Edward I. Roscommon Castle reflects some of the most up-to-date elements of castle design of the 1270s (D. Sweetman 1999). The castle is quadrangular, with rounded bastions in the corner and a double D-shaped, twin-towered gatehouse. This gatehouse is said to be one of the finest examples of its type in Ireland. The west wall contains a rectangular gate-tower. This smaller gatehouse may date to before 1278, because it is not aligned with the walls on either side (D. Sweetman 1999). The courtyard encloses an area of 49.37m by 39.62m, and the towers are joined by a curtain wall that survives on the east and west sides of the castle; this has been entirely removed on the south side of the castle, and only a fragment of the north wall remains.

Historical documents suggest that the castle was enclosed by two external fosses, and the significant section that survives outside the northern wall of the castle may well be part of the outer enclosure ditch

The trenches excavated on the site confirmed that the linear feature running east–west at the south of the castle, and long suspected of having been the moat, is indeed part of the moat and may date to an early stage in the history of the castle. Although part of the moat is still visible to the north of the castle, it is at a greater distance from the keep here than it is to the south. The test-trenching also confirmed that the slope at the west side of the castle is a natural one and that originally the marsh came right up to the base of the slope. This should have obviated the need for a moat on this side of the castle, and until now it was thought that the marsh formed the defence perimeter on this side. The present phase of testing has revealed the line of a ditch along the top of the slope in this area, which presumably links in with the moat to the north and south of the castle. Indeed examination of the moat to the north of the castle identified the point where it links: the junction is clearly visible at the top of the slope. The moat to the north and south continues westward past the junction, with the newly identified moat extending as far as the edge of the marsh. This may have been to draw water into the moat. The newly identified moat along the west side of the bawn may have been constructed to provide protection during summer or dry weather, when the level of water in the lake or marsh would have fallen and left this side of the castle vulnerable. It is now obvious that there was another curtain wall along the inner edge of the moat and that when it was demolished, probably during the 17th or 18th century, the rubble was used to backfill the moat along the west. In plan and layout of Roscommon Castle can now be closely linked with the Edward I castle at Beaumaris in Anglesea, which is a concentric castle of 1295–1300.

References
Sweetman, D. 1999 The medieval castles of Ireland. Cork.
Sweetman, H.S. 1875–86 Calendar of documents relating to Ireland. London.

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