Killua Castle, County Westmeath
Photo © Peter Gavigan, 2000
Killua Castle, County Westmeath
Photo © Peter Gavigan,
2000
Killua Castle, and the nearby Raleigh Obelisk, are situated near Clonmellon
town, in north County Westmeath.
The castle and the obelisk are separated
by some 200 m to 300m, and belonged to the Chapman family more than two centuries
ago, beginning with Captain Benjamin
Chapman, patriarch of the Chapman
Baronets of Killua Castle. From here, the Chapmans administered the surrounding
farm lands of some 9,000 acres (36 km2) in the 1700s.
The obelisk marks the position where Sir Walter Raleigh planted some of the first potatoes that he imported to Ireland. Antoine Parmentier who promoted the cultivation of potatoes for human consumption and the Spanish conquistadores who first imported them from South America along the south and west Irish coast are also associated with Irish potato promotion. However, it is uncertain who is initially responsible of the first potato plantation in Ireland, even though Raleigh is frequently credited with this milestone in Irish history. The obelisk erected by Sir Thomas Chapman in 1810, marks the Raleigh contribution to Ireland in providing stable nourishment to the farming/working class land tenants.
Sir Thomas Chapman, Baronet, in the year 1810 is believed to have sited the Obelisk upon the ground where Sir Walter Raleigh first planted the potato tubers in Ireland.
The inscription on the obelisk currently reads "Sir Walter G. Raleigh," but there is no other evidence that Raleigh had a middle name, and the "G" appears to be vandalism added after the original inscription.
The castle is currently being restored by Brouder, of Athea, Limerick, Ireland. Founder, Cornelius J. Brouder, II is also the father of Irish American notables Christina Brouder and Corina Brouder.
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