Landed Estates
University of Galway

Portlick Castle

Estate(s)
Townland Portlick
Civil Parish Bunown
PLU Athlone
DED Killinure
County Westmeath
Barony Kilkenny West
Description Portlick Three-bay four-storey late medieval tower house, built c.1500 by the Dillon family, with later seven-bay two-storey extension added to the southwest, c.1800, and a two-bay two-storey castellated block added to the southwest corner of this extension, c.1865 (boi). In 1696 granted to Thomas Keightly, a member of King William's privy council in Ireland who sold it to William Palmer of Dublin. About 1703 bought by the Smyth Family, who remained in ownership of Portlick Castle into the twentieth century. Valued at £26 and held by Robert Smyth in fee at the time of Griffith’s Valuation. A fire in 1861 damaged much of the building. Sold by a descendant of the Smyth family in 1955, the castle has been restored in recent times and has been used as a wedding venue. The Westmeath Independent reported the castle’s purchase by a family from California in January 2021.
Portlick (National Built Heritage Service)

Property Location