By the time the Normans arrived in Ireland in 1169 the Kingdom of Mide was in a steep decline. The Southern Uí Neill had been ousted from northern Meath by Tiernán O’Rourke of Breifne, and when O’Rourke was assassinated by Hugh de Lacy this left Meath in the hands of one of the most powerful Norman lords to ever set foot on the island. De Lacy set about fortifying his position by building a series of motte enclosures, many of which were later replaced with stone castles, including one in Kells. Despite numerous Irish victories in the 1170s Meath eventually fell to the Normans, and having well-drained arable land in close proximity to Dublin, became one of the most intensively settled rural regions in Ireland.

Gaelic tradition remained stronger in the west and north of Meath and by the 1300’s many local Norman families had become ‘Gaelicised’ and assimilated into Irish society. Even so, tensions still existed and control of northern Meath was sometimes tenuous. In 1311, the manorial village at Robertstown near Nobber was attacked and burnt by the Gaelic Irish¹, while in 1315 the Hiberno-Normans in Kells were defeated by a combined Scottish/Gaelic Irish army. Due to the continued weakening of the colony a subsidy of £10 was even provided by the Irish Parliament in 1429 to anyone who would build a castle in the Pale to secure the frontier of the settlement. By the early modern period, Ireland had the most heavily castellated landscape in Europe.²

Following the rebellion of 1641 the Civil Survey (1654-56) was carried out to detail landholdings across the island. According to this survey there were twelve castles on or near the border of Meath and Cavan. Most of Moybolgue was in the hands of Gerald Barnwell who had his castle at Robertstown (Tierworker was an exception here which was owned by Christo Plunkett of Ardamagh); the area around Cormeen was mostly owned by Garrett Barnwell and Kilmainhamwood by Nick Barnwell, who resided at Turvey House, Donabate. Moynalty was in the possession of the extended Betagh family.

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References

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1. B.J. Graham, ‘Anglo-Norman Settlement in County Meath’ in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature Vol. 75 (1975), pp. 223 – 249
2. Linzi Simpson and Sean Duffy, ‘Ireland’s ‘Norman’ castles’ in History Ireland Magazine, Issue 3, Vol. 27, (May/June 2019)