Annaghkeen

 

Annaghkeen Castle and House

Headford.org

Not far away, but in the parish of Killursa is the castle of Eanach Caoin. It is a square keep, the outer walls of which are perfect, except upon the north side. That upon the lake or west side is forty-six feet long, and that on the south, here represented, is fifty feet. There are also some remains of the outer enclosure, and the whole is surrounded by a very beautiful park of the finest land, ornamented with some aged ash.

No hammer or chisel was never applied

Of all the castles surrounding Loch Coirib, this would appear from its masonry to be the oldest; for, although it has not been dilapidated for building purposes, it is not possible to find in it or around it a single dressed stone of any description; the quoins, door-ways, and window openings being, with the walls, both within and without, all formed of undressed stone. At the north-west corner there is a square tower, and probably a similar one existed on the north-east. All the outerwalls of this structure are six feet thick, and contain passages leading to the upper apartments and the parapet. Some of the arches of the windows and doors are circular, and others pointed; but all ingeniously constructed with stones to which a hammer or chisel was never applied–in like manner as in the arch of the east window in the beautiful old church of Cross, and as we find in other localities where the great abundance and variety in form of the surrounding limestone afforded ample materials for any description of building, and the ingenuity of the artists was equal to the task of rendering them subservient to architectural purposes. Even to the present day, every man in this and the adjoining limestone districts is more or less a mason.