Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Castle - tower house
Mountprospect, County Kildare, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Mountprospect
- County
- Kildare
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Offaly Castle
- Latest-edition OS map
- Offaly Castle (in Ruins)
- Coordinates
- 53.20756, -7.00968
- SMR number
- KD017-021----
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1790 "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
Named 'Kiltaghan' castle on Noble and Keenan's 1752 map of County Kildare, after the townland it was then in, and spelt 'Kyltaghan' castle on Taylor's 1783 map of the county. By 1838 it was named 'Offaly Castle' and was located in Mountprospect townland on the 1st ed. (1838) of the OS 6-inch map. Fitzgerald (1906-8, 159-60), commenting on the latter name says,' I can find no authority for it as it is called Kiltaghan Castle in the Rathangan Manor book of 1760, now at Carton'. At the N foot of a long, gentle pasture slope, immediately E of a possible late-medieval field system (KD017-020----), and c. 75m to the S of an unclassified building (KD017-035----). A low, roughly circular cairn of grassed-over, collapsed masonry (diam. 17m; H 0.8-1.6m) contains a short length of 'in situ' wall (L 6.2m; T 0.7m; H 1.8m) built of roughly coursed rubble masonry, with facing stones surviving at the W end. In 1986, traces of a barrel vault were noted (SMR file), but are no longer obviously visible. (CUCAP BDU 16, 17: 1970)
Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy
Date of upload: 10 June 2011
References
CUCAP - Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photographs. Unit for Landscape Modelling, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge. See:https://www.cambridgeairphotos.com
FitzGerald, Lord W. 1906-8 Rathangan. Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society 5, 137-63.
Nearby in the register
- Buildingunder 1 mi
- Enclosureunder 1 mi
- Field systemunder 1 mi
- Fulacht fiaunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.