placenamesCastlerickard
Caisleán Riocaird
Castlerickard’s surviving houses and unusual Swifte mausoleum stand within a parish history that also includes a clergyman who published architectural designs.
The name
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
- Caisleán Riocaird · Irish · main form · validated name
- Castlerickard · English · main form
Place & story
The parish recorded in 1837
Samuel Lewis described Castlerickard as a parish extending into both Meath and Kildare, chiefly within Meath. Its principal residences included Castlerickard, occupied by G. Lucas Nugent, and Lionsden, occupied by Godwin Swift. Lewis recorded the church as maintained and the glebe house as built in 1790 with assistance from the Board of First Fruits. These are parish-wide observations, rather than a population count for the small settlement itself. [2]
The Swifte pyramid
In the churchyard, the Swifte mausoleum takes the form of a three-sided limestone pyramid, dated by the architectural inventory to around 1815. Its ashlar blocks run in diagonal courses, with raised diamond-shaped details on each side and the family name on the western face. The tightly fitted stonework produces an almost smooth surface. Its unusual geometry gives this family memorial a particularly distinctive place among the graveyard’s monuments. [3]
Castlerickard House
Castlerickard House is a separate country residence dating from around 1820. Two parallel ranges of rooms rise above a basement, with later wings giving the building an uneven outline. A carved limestone entrance surround is reached by stone steps with iron railings. The 2002 architectural survey recorded sash windows, panelled shutters and outbuildings, while also noting the house’s poor condition. Those observations document its historic fabric at the time of survey. [4]
John Payne, rector and designer
The Reverend John Payne served for many years as incumbent of Castlerickard. Alongside his clerical work, he acted as a building surveyor and prepared designs for modest country houses. His twelve designs, first drawn up in 1753, were published anonymously in Dublin in 1757 with practical advice for building on glebes and small estates. The Irish Architectural Archive records both his parish connection and this publication, giving Castlerickard a precise association with eighteenth-century architectural thinking. [5]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Meath
- Barony
- Moyfenrath Upper
- Civil parish
- Castlerickard
- Coordinates
- 53.48609, -6.91522 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1414642 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Castlerickard. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Castle-Rickard, a parish, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis
- Saint Nicholas’s Church (Castlerickard): Swifte mausoleum, NIAH 14404109 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Castlerickard House, NIAH 14404110 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Payne, John (Rev.), architect biography 4296 · Irish Architectural Archive, Dictionary of Irish Architects
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-08-12. How this page was prepared.