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Townland

Ardkeen

Ard Caoin

Later interventions changed both the surviving castle remains and the uses of the surrounding estate.

Recorded locationArdkeen54.43310° N · 5.53715° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ie

The name

ardheight; highcaoinpleasant, fair

These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.

An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.

Recorded forms

  • Ard Caoin · Irish · main form
  • Ardkeen · English · main form

Place & story

People & connections

Excavation and rearrangement in 1898

G. F. Savage-Armstrong investigated Ardkeen’s castle site in the summer of 1898. The Historic Environment Division records that he uncovered part of a spiral staircase and traces of two towers. He also rearranged loose stones, supported surviving masonry and built around a doorway. Those interventions matter when interpreting the ruins: some visible arrangements reflect an antiquarian’s work as well as the older building. [2]

Lady Harriet Savage’s school

Lady Harriet Savage established a school for local children in 1814 on land belonging to the Dorn estate. This was a later use of the estate after its residence had apparently been abandoned around 1800. The historical buildings survey suggests that the school closed in the 1850s; when surveyed in 1997, the building beside Rowreagh Road was being used as a piggery. [2]

Geographic information

Place type
Townland
County
Down
Civil parish
Ardkeen
Coordinates
54.43310, -5.53715
Mapped area
2.1 km²
Logainm ID
65871 ↗

People & family history

Census figures refer to the matched historical census area for each year. Boundaries and spellings can change over time.

1926 census

This year is outside the available dataset’s coverage. This does not indicate a population of zero.

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Ardkeen. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Ardkeen Tower House, HB24/02/046: historical information, survey 25 September 1997 · Historic Environment Division, Department for Communities
  3. Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2019-06-27. How this page was prepared.