Duleek House was built in the 1700s by Judge Stephen Trotter who was MP for the area at Westminster. He made this his principal residence. It is reputed that window-sills of the house were plundered headstones of monks from previous centuries. A statue of Judge Trotter MP stands in at the Law Society, Blackhall Place, Dublin. The statue, which stood in the porch of the Church of Ireland church, was removed, for safekeeping, at the time of deconsecrating of this church and is the work of Flemish sculptor Peter Scheemakers. The restoration of the statue was commissioned by the Irish Heritage Council.
The Monastic Grange of St Michael’s This grange or manor farm was established by Walter de Lacy as a cell of its mother-house at Llanthony Secunda at Monmouthshire. It acted independently of the Irish civil and religious authorities, giving its allegiance solely to Llanthony Secunda. The Llanthony cartularies give a detailed description of the buildings, which occupied the site. All that can now be seen are the Church of St Michael and the high cross.
Athcarne Castle About a mile upriver from Annesbrook stand the ruins of Athcarne Castle situated on the banks of the Hurley River (in turn a tributary of the River Nanny). In the 1930s most of the land was acquired by the Land Commission and divided. The castle was retained by James Gernon who regaled locals with tales of the Klondike gold rush. He was the last occupant of the castle which was partially demolished in the 1950s.
There is a magnificent panoramic view of Athcarne Castle and the East-Meath/Louth countryside from a vantage point about 200 yards above Riverstown Cross on the Ardcath road.
Monument to the Croppies During the 1798 rebellion a number of Wexford insurgents who travelled to Tara were making their way from the skirmish there to join the United Irishmen in Co. Down. While marching from Tara to Drogheda they stopped to rest at The Deens and called to a farmer’s house (currently occupied by McGranes), where they were allowed to sleep in a loft in the farmyard. It is alleged that an inquiry from the pursuing yeomen gained a betraying wink from the farmer’s wife towards the direction of the shed. The yeomen pushed swords through the wattles and the rebels were discovered and summarily executed. A monument to their memory is erected at The Deens along the road to Athcarne Castle and about two miles from Duleek.
