Summerhill, County Meath
village in Leinster, Ireland
Summerhill (Irish: Cnoc an Línsigh) is a heritage village in County Meath, Ireland. It is located in the south of the county, between Trim and Kilcock on the R158 and west of Dunboyne on the R156.
It is the site of one of the most important battles in 17th century Ireland, the Battle of Dungan's Hill. Up until 1667, the village was known in English as 'The Knock' or 'Lynchs' Knock' (phonetic renderings of Cnoc an Línsigh) as it was the ancestral home of the Norman-Irish Lynch family, whence came the Galway merchant family of the same name - one of the "Tribes of Galway".
However, in about 1667, it was renamed Summerhill by the Langfords, the landed gentry, builders of Summerhill House and planners of the village as it is today.
The ruins of the large Lynch castle can be seen in the village today while, apart from the village layout, only the demesne walls and entrance pillars of Summerhill House still stand.
Summerhill House and Demesne
The ancient seat of the Norman-Irish Lynch family had been granted to Bishop Henry Jones for his services provided as Scoutmaster General to Cromwell's Army. Henry Jones, Church of Ireland Lord Bishop of Meath in 1661, sold Summerhill and many other townlands to Sir Hercules Langford.
Lynch's Castle, located on the Sumerhill Demesne, was then occupied by the Langfords until it was abandoned in the 1730s when Summerhill House was built for Hercules Langford Rowley, the father of Hercules Rowley, 2nd Viscount Langford. The old Lynch's Castle remained on the demesne as a folly.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Summerhill, County Meath” as village in Leinster, Ireland. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as village in Leinster, Ireland. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2081820. VIAF identifies the subject as 224465462. The Library of Congress control number is no2012006955. Authority coordinates are 53.482, -6.731. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1667 and 1661.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Summerhill, County Meath”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Summerhill, County Meath primary sources, Summerhill, County Meath archive and Summerhill research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Summerhill, County Meath”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Summerhill, County Meath” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.