Clogh Oughter Castle

Clogh Oughter is a circular stone tower of the early thirteenth century, built by the de Lacys and taken over by the O'Reillys, standing on a small island in Lough Oughter that it almost entirely covers - the island may be partly artificial, a crannog base. It functioned as a prison as much as a fortress: William Bedell, the Church of Ireland bishop of Kilmore, was held here after the 1641 rising, and Owen Roe O'Neill, the Confederate general, died in it in 1649. Cromwellian artillery reduced it in 1653, which is why one side is missing and the tower stands as a broken cylinder. There is no bridge, no ferry and no organised boat service; people reach it by kayak or private boat from Killykeen, and the shoreline of the island offers only awkward landing on rock. Entry into the tower is not safe and the structure is unstabilised.

History

The castle was built about 1220 by the Anglo-Norman de Lacys, lords of Meath, and by 1233 the O'Reilly clan held the Lough Oughter area and kept the castle for most of the rest of the medieval period. After the Plantation of Ulster in 1610 it was granted to Captain Hugh Culme, and in 1641 Philip O'Reilly, MP for Cavan, took control of it (Wikipedia, Cloughoughter Castle).

Highlights

• The circular tower - early thirteenth-century, broken open on one side.
• The island - so small the tower covers most of it, possibly built up.
• The 1653 damage - the Cromwellian artillery breach still open.
• The water approach - the only way there, by kayak or small boat.

When to go

May to September for the water conditions. There is no service - you need your own boat or a hire from Killykeen. Wind raises quickly on the open water.

Things to know

No ferry, no bridge, no landing stage - reaching it means paddling and scrambling onto rock. The tower is unstabilised and entering it is unsafe. Most people photograph it from the water rather than land.

Nearby

Killykeen Forest Park is the usual launch point; Cavan town is south-east.

Key facts