Settlement deserted - medieval

The National Monuments Service's description

On a moderately steep-sided hilltop (OD c. 150m) upon which several roads converge. According to Bradley et al. (1986 vol. 4, 384-99), Kilcullen is a deserted medieval borough established on the site of an Early Christian monastery (KD028-049001-). The earliest reference to the borough occurs in 1403 when the provost and burgesses received a royal charter for a weekly market - the borough is described in that charter as having been recently burned. In 1456, it was again “burned, laid waste and destroyed” by the native Irish and parliament authorised a levy of £10 on the county of Kildare to enable Roland FitzEustace to build a fortified tower or towerhouse there. In 1478, FitzEustace obtained a murage grant for the town’s defences (KD028-049008-). The scarcity of references to Kilcullen in the 16th and 17th-centuries suggests the borough declined at this time. An inquisition in 1581 (ibid 386) refers to the ‘old walls and close within the walls called the old manor house of Kilcullen’, while in 1588 the manor and town of Kilcullen were leased to Brian FitzWilliams. The Civil Survey of 1654 records ‘severall ruined Castles and Stone houses’ and the census of Ireland in 1659 recorded a population of 115. No visible surface trace of the borough, town walls, castles or stone houses survive, but the borough probably ocupied the area at the intersection of the several roads, immediately W of the surviving church (KD028-049005-) round tower (KD028-049006-) and graveyard (KD028-049011-).

Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy

Date of upload: 17 May 2013