Netterville Charitable Almshouse and Dowth Castle, Dowth, Co. Meath

In the shadow of Dowth passage tomb in the Boyne Valley

The Netterville Charitable Almshouse is located in Dowth, Co. Meath, adjacent to the famous passage tomb of the same name. In 1826 the sixth Viscount Netterville, upon his death, left Dowth Castle (previously abandoned when he moved into the nearby Dowth Hall) as well as sixty acres and an annual stipend to support a charitable institution to aid 'poor desolate widows and orphans'. As a result of this, Dowth Castle, a medieval towerhouse, was modernised as a 'widows house'. Operations were expanded in 1877 when the large seven-bay, two-story building was constructed, to the design of George C. Ashlin. Built of red-brick, limestone and blue-brick trim, it is quite an imposing building, typical of late Victorian institutional architecture. To the left (as photographed) of the main building, a large chapel was also constructed at this time. The Netterville Charitable Almshouse closed its doors in the early 1960s. It operated for a time as a guesthouse, and is now owned by Devenish, an agri-tech company that also owns the adjacent Dowth Hall and extensive estate. In recent years a huge amount of restoration and modernisation work has been undertaken, with a view to using the Netterville Almshouse, rechristened Netterville Manor, as a 'global innovation center' for the company.

From left to right: Netterville Chapel, Netterville Charitable Almshouse, Dowth Castle.

Netterville Charitable Almshouse, now called 'Netterville Manor'.

Dowth Castle is a late medieval three-story towerhouse, extensively remodeled over the centuries and has been recently restored also. There is an interesting history to this castle, as well as the adjacent medieval church ruins, but more on these another time.

Dowth Castle. Extensively altered and modernised over the years, it is a three-story towerhouse, with a stairs tower visible at the northeast angle.

A view of the Netterville Charitable Almshouse and Dowth Castle. To the right of the castle, just out of view, are the medieval remains of Dowth church. Dowth passage tomb and mound were positioned about 100 meters or so directly behind me when I took this photograph.

Sources/further reading

Casey, Christine, and Alistair John Rowan. North Leinster (The Buildings of Ireland). Penguin Books, 1993.

Fenwick, Joseph P. “A Reappraisal of the Archaeological Remains in the Vicinity of the Great Passage Tomb and Manorial Village of Dowth, Brú Na Bóinne, Co. Meath.” The Journal of Irish Archaeology, vol. 26, 2017, pp. 143–166.

Stout, Geraldine. Newgrange and the Bend of the Boyne (Irish Rural Landscapes). Cork University Press, 2003.