Barmeath Castle
- Classificazione
- Castello
- Paese
- Irlanda
- Regione
- County Louth
- Indirizzo
- Barmeath Castle, Togher, Dunleer, Louth
- Periodo / stile
- Medieval tower house with Georgian and neo-Norman revival additions
Barmeath Castle stands on wooded slopes in County Louth with views toward the Cooley Peninsula and Irish Sea. The Bellew family acquired the estate in the 17th century as settlement of a legal bill. The medieval tower house underwent two remodels and extensions, later receiving neo-Norman crenellations. The rococo pleasure grounds, designed by Thomas Wright of Durham, feature an ornamental lake, rustic bridge, archery ground, and large walled garden. Queen Maeve reportedly established a camp at Barmeath before her legendary cattle raid for the Brown Bull of Cooley, referenced in The Tain epic. The name derives from the Gaelic "Bearna Mheabh" (Maeve's Pass). The Bellew family, early Norman settlers, initially occupied Castle Roche. John Bellew, who lost estates opposing Cromwell, became a lawyer and represented Theobald Taaffe at the Restoration Court of Claims. Rather than pay Bellew's fee, Carlingford granted him 2,000 acres at Barmeath, where the Moore family had built a 15th-century tower house. A two-storey wing was added around 1700, followed by a large three-storey Georgian house mid-century, incorporating the original tower. The interior features fine mahogany staircases, Corinthian balusters, and notable plasterwork. The library ceiling displays Masonic symbols in rococo plaster; lodge meetings occurred here until religious obligations intervened. Early 19th-century remodelling by Thomas Smith created a neo-Norman castle with crenellations, round corner turrets, and a tall square tower serving as the new principal entrance. Smith also introduced restrained Gothick interior elements. Thomas Wright of Durham (1711-1785) designed the innovative landscape layout, contemporary with the mid-18th-century house. His scheme includes a small lake, archery ground, maze, hermitage, shell house, rustic bridge, and a recently restored four-acre walled garden. Wright's preoccupation with Masonic symbolism likely strengthened his friendship with the resident Bellew family. John Bellew's son Patrick became High Sheriff of Louth and was made baronet by James II. The seventh baronet, also named Patrick and County Louth MP, received an Irish peerage in 1844. The current owner descends directly from John Bellew. The family maintained Connacht holdings; their County Galway estate eventually passed to Grattan-Bellew descendants, who established the market town of Mount Bellew. Available as a film location, with individual house and garden visits, groups by arrangement, and concerts, plays and educational visits hosted.
Kieran Campbell / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0