Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Castle - unclassified
Blackrath, County Kildare, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Blackrath
- County
- Kildare
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Blackrath Castle
- Latest-edition OS map
- Blackrath Castle
- Coordinates
- 53.04362, -6.78238
- SMR number
- KD032-033----
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
4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1790 map "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
Historical maps covering this location
- 1790 · Composite: Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1799 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1830 · V.3:11-15:XV. Britisches Reich. C. Kon: Ireland. a. Prov: Leinster. Counties: 1-12 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1891 · Ireland 16 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
In a farmyard near the W-edge of a low pasture ridge. According to Tickell (1960, 370, 373), Blackrath Castle and its lands were leased by the Eustaces in 1536. A fairly poorly preserved small, two-storied rectangular structure (int. 5.4m E-W; 4m N-S; ext 7.45m E-W; 6.4m N-S; H c. 6m) is built of thin randomly coursed flags, and is abutted at W by a later building. Entered through a plain lintelled doorway (Wth 1.2m) in the N wall, the ground floor is lit by two loops, in the E and W walls. Ground floor-level is roofed by a barrel vault, orientated E-W (H 2.1m). Although there is no internal access to the upper floor levels, an infilled square ope (L 0.8m; Wth 0.8m) in the underside of the vault may have allowed internal access to occur. Externally, the wall faces carry a lot of ivy, but a rectangular ope (Wth. c. 1m) can be made out in the S wall at first floor-level. Its small size and lack of direct easy access to the upper floor-levels suggest it may have been the defensive tower of a bawn?
Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy
Date of upload: 30 October 2013
References
Tickell, E. F. 1960 The Eustace Family and their lands in County Kildare, Part 3. Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society 13, 364-413.
Nearby in the register
- Graveyardunder 1 mi
- Churchunder 1 mi
- Ringfort - rathunder 1 mi
- Enclosureunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.