After Monday’s post about the Widows’ Almshouses in Castlebellingham, County Louth, here is a view of the gatehouse originally built to gain admission to the property from which the village derived its name, Bellingham Castle. As mentioned, the ‘castle’ was an 18th century house to which battlements and other faux-Gothic decoration was added by Sir Alan Bellingham in the mid-1830s. The architect responsible for this work was Thomas Smith who received a not-dissimilar commission from Sir Patrick Bellew at Barmeath Castle elsewhere in the county. At Barmeath Smith designed a Norman gateway into the yard, so it would appear he can also be credited with the gatehouse at Castlebellingham, a miniature castle comprising a sophisticated mixture of rubble and dressed stone and render. Today the building no longer serves its intended purpose but stands as an island surrounded by roads.
