Originally the site of a 13th century Norman
keep (associated with
Hugh de Lacy), a replacement
tower house and
bawn was built at Narrow Water (by the Magennis family) in the 16th century. The replacement structure, built in the 1560s, was a typical example of the
tower houses built throughout Ireland at the time. This kind of building, often rectangular in plan and three or more storeys high, comprised a series of superimposed chambers, with stairs, closets and latrines built within the walls (which are 1.5 metres or five feet thick in places). The castle was damaged during the
Irish Rebellion of 1641, and sold to the Hall family in the 1670s. It was occupied by the Hall family until they built an "Elizabethan revival style" mansion (also called "Narrow Water Castle") in the early 19th century. The original (16th century) Narrow Water Castle keep was given into state care in 1956. A bridge was proposed to be built near the castle in the early 21st century. However, in July 2013,
Louth County Council announced that the projected costs were prohibitive and the project was not progressed at that stage. In 2023,
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar committed to examining the feasibility of co-funding a Narrow Water Bridge. == See also ==