Rindown Castle
Rindown Castle on a narrow promontory in Lough Ree in County Roscommon is one of the most historically significant and dramatically situated medieval settlements in the Irish Midlands. Established by the Anglo-Normans in the thirteenth century as a forward base for extending power into Connacht, the promontory site almost surrounded by water offered exceptional natural defences. The ruins are remarkably complete in plan: castle, town walls, gate towers, church remains and earthwork traces of the medieval street pattern all survive, giving a vivid impression of the ambitious planned settlement that was never fully realised before gradual abandonment preserved its medieval fabric unusually intact. Managed by the Office of Public Works and freely accessible, Rindown offers one of the most evocative medieval townscape experiences in Ireland.