© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Castleskreen tower house is a late medieval fortified residence situated in County Down, Northern Ireland. The monument comprises a tower house set within a rath, combining two distinct defensive traditions: the prehistoric ringwork earthwork and the tower house architecture that dominated late medieval Ulster. The underlying geology of Hawick Group wacke sandstone, deposited during the Wenlock period of the Silurian, would have provided local stone suitable for construction of the tower structure.
The rath element represents the reuse or adaptation of an earlier fortified enclosure, a pattern common in medieval settlement where pre-existing defensive earthworks offered practical advantages. The addition of a stone tower house reflects the shift in fortification design during the late medieval period, when vertical stone structures became the preferred form of elite residence and military stronghold across Ireland and the north of Britain.
The site is protected as a scheduled monument by the Historic Environment Division under reference 8035, recognising its archaeological and historical significance as evidence of late medieval occupation and lordly settlement patterns in County Down. The combination of rath and tower house at this location illustrates the layered occupation history characteristic of many Ulster estates during the medieval period.
Castleskreen tower house. rath & tower-house is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 8035. View the official record →
Castleskreen tower house is a late medieval fortified residence situated in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 8035.
Castleskreen tower house. rath & tower-house dates from the e.christ. period, and is classified as a rath & fortification. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Castleskreen tower house. rath & tower-house is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 8035.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Windmill stump (c.f. ihr 3454 for details) (2.6 km), Rathmullan motte, rathmullan mound, rathmullan. raised rath reused as motte (2.9 km), A.p. site - barrow? (3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Castleskreen tower house. rath & tower-house's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Castleskreen tower house. rath & tower-house stands on Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.