Roodstown - from Baile an Rútaigh (Town of Rút).
This is a fine example of a tower house, the fortified home of a wealthy 15th or 16th century landowner. It is four storeys high with two square turrets projecting from opposite corners; one of these turrets contains garderobes (toilets), while the other has a spiral stairs giving access to different floor levels and the battlements. The entrance lobby is protected by a murder hole which allowed defenders to fire on intruders as they came in the door. A drawing, made in the 18th century, shows a machicolation, a small protection from the battlements used for the same purpose, protecting the doorway. The ground floor room has a stone-vaulted ceiling and is well lit by double-splayed windows; the upper rooms have finely-carved windows.
Tower houses very similar to Roodstown were built in counties Louth, Meath, Dublin and Kildare in the 15th century. This area was known as the Pale, and the people living there were generally loyal to the English crown. Between the 1420s end 1440s, the government offered £10 subsidies for the construction of the tower houses of the Pale, perhaps including Roodstown