Just west of the M1 near Dundalk, at the end of a long (about 550 metres) and romantic path, there are the ruins of Dunmahon castle, a tower house built in the 15th century.
It's four storeys high, with two projecting corner towers. The one at the northeast corner has a round-headed doorway on the north-northwest (345°) side and a spiral staircase within.
On the ground floor there's a chamber with a vaulted ceiling.
The room above is reached with 12 steps of the staircase. All the above chambers have no ceilings, but the staircase reaches the roof level after 30 more steps.
It's absolutely unsafe to get to the roof level, only a narrow wall-walk runs all around the roof that has four corner turrets.
On a windy day, like the day I visited the castle, I wouldn't advice to go further than the last step of the staircase. It is told that a young boy fell from the parapet to his death in 1979.
The northwest and northeast walls have well visible cracks in the masonry that run down from top to ground.
The castle is known in the history for the massacre of at least 250 people, including a priest, during an attack.
Some sources blame Oliver Cromwell and his army for the massacre, but this happened at least 8 years before Cromwell landed on the island, so it was clearly committed by someone else.
In conclusion, the history of castle is quite unclear.
Nevertheless, a visit to the castle is well worth it, at least for a romantic walk along the path that, on the day of our visit, was gently covered with thousands of whitethorn petals.
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