Site of Castle, Ballyshelin, Co. Wexford

Co. Wexford |

Masonry Castles

Site of Castle, Ballyshelin, Co. Wexford

At the southwestern base of Forth Mountain in County Wexford, the faint traces of a castle mark a site that once belonged to Philip Hore in the mid-17th century.

The Civil Survey of 1654-6 records a 'slate house' here, accompanied by 360 acres at Ballyshelin and an additional 360 acres at nearby Harveystown. By 1839, when the Ordnance Survey mapped the area, only a ghostly rectangular outline remained, measuring roughly 10 metres east to west and 5 metres north to south.

Today, visitors to the site will find little more than a slightly raised oval area, approximately 18 metres by 11 metres, which likely marks where the structure once stood. Just to the west runs a curious sunken track or fosse, stretching 150 metres from north to south and varying between 4 and 8 metres in width. In 1988, exposed stonework was still visible at the northern end of this feature, though decades of ploughing have since taken their toll on these already fragile remains.

The castle's position on level ground at the mountain's base would have offered its inhabitants commanding views across the surrounding countryside whilst remaining accessible to the agricultural lands that sustained it. Though time and agriculture have largely erased the physical structure, the site continues to tell the story of landed estates in 17th-century Wexford, when families like the Hores controlled substantial holdings and built houses that reflected their status and ambitions.

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