Ballymoon Castle

Ballymoon Castle stands in open countryside about 3 km (2 miles) east of Bagenalstown in County Carlow, close to the Fennagh road. A National Monument now in ruins, the castle is thought to date from around 1290 to 1310, though it has no recorded documentary history. It is generally attributed either to Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk, or to the Carew family, who held the district of Idrone after the Bigod line ended.

Built of granite, the castle takes the form of a roughly square courtyard about 24 metres (80 feet) on each side, enclosed by walls some 6 metres (20 feet) high and around 2.4 metres (8 feet) thick. Square towers project from three sides, while a gatehouse marks the fourth. The remains include cross-shaped loops, arrow slits, portcullis grooves and traces of fireplaces, and the outlines of two-storey buildings can still be seen ranged against the inner face of the walls.

Unusually, there is no evidence that the castle was ever completed or occupied, which has long made it something of a puzzle for historians. Today the site is open and free to visit, reached by a small wooden footbridge that crosses a ditch from the roadside, and it makes a quiet, atmospheric stop for anyone with an interest in medieval architecture.