Athlone Castle

About

Athlone Castle, sometimes known as Adamson Castle, is a castle located in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland, dating from the 12th century.

History: The earliest recorded "castle" of Athlone was a wooden structure built in 1129, by King Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair of Connacht, possibly on the site of the present castle. The stone castle which survives today dates from 1210 and was built for King John by his Irish Justiciar, Bishop John de Gray of Norwich. It was built to defend the crossing point of the river at Athlone and to provide a bridgehead to facilitate the Norman advance into Connaught. The castle of 1210 was a free-standing polygonal tower built on a newly built (or existing) ‘motte’ or man-made hill. This tower, though greatly altered, can still be seen as the central keep or ‘donjon’ of the castle today. At the time the castle was built on the Shannon, as it passed through Athlone, was very different from today. It is likely that in the early days of its existence the castle enjoyed the protection of a fosse or moat. The castle was greatly fortified in the late 13th century (c1276) when the original ‘motte’ was surrounded by a curtain wall with three-quarter round towers...