Settlement cluster

The National Monuments Service's description

On a prominent E-W ridge running along the S bank of the River Nore. The slight elevation gives a commanding view across the Nore valley in all directions and over a crossing point of the river. According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 267) the origin of the medieval name for Threecastles of 'Odagh', which still survives as the name of the parish, derives from the Ui Duach tribe whose lands here where taken by the Anglo-Normans and, 'under the name of the Manor of Odogh, was made part of the Lordship of Leinster, granted to Earl Strongbow by Henry II. It continued in the possession of Strongbow's descendants for the next two centuries, that is, till the death of David of Strabolgi, 13th Earl of Athol, in 1375, when it passed into other hands'. The initial castle erected here was the motte (KK014-025005-). Carrigan (ibid.) states that, the 'Normans made the narrow pass beside the old parish church [KK014-025003-] of Odagh, the strong point of their newly-acquired Manor, by erecting several castles there, and from this circumstance the place became known as Castledowgh (Castle Ui Duach), and in later times as Three Castles'.
There are references to the manor of Castledogh in 1381 and 1402 and before 1537 it had passed to the Shortalls of Ballylarkin before being forfeited by them in 1653 (ibid.). In the Calendar of Ormond Deeds (1350-1413) an early 15th-century list of the baronies of Kilkenny and the value of the townland, boroughs etc. therein, includes, the 'Burgagery of Castledoigh', which suggests that Castledoigh had acquired borough status by this date (Curtis 1934, vol. 2, 353). While many medieval boroughs failed in the late 13th and 14th centuries, Empey (1990, 80, 85) mentions the borough of Castledogh (Odagh) as having, 'still some kind of existence in the late sixteenth century'.
There is some evidence of the three castles implied in the later name of the settlement. Carrigan (ibid. 268) refers to the residential tower (KK014-025004-) or presbytery adjoining the church as one of the castles and states that, 'another [KK014-025002-] stood 30 or 40 yards to the north, till it was thrown down 90 or 100 years ago, and the present Rectory house erected on the site; the third must have stood somewhere in Mrs. Clarke's yard, close to its ancient "chapel". Though in the latter case the 'chapel' itself may have been a small tower house [KK014-025006-].
The form and extent of the medieval settlement is unknown.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 20 May 2020

References

Carrigan, Rev. W. 1905 (Reprint 1981) The history and antiquities of the diocese of Ossory, 4 vols. Kilkenny. Roberts Books and Wellbrook Press.

Curtis, E. (ed.) 1934 Calendar of Ormond Deeds 1350-1413 A.D. Vol. 2. Dublin. The Stationery Office.

Empey, C.A. 1990 County Kilkenny in the Anglo-Norman period. In Nolan, W. and Whelan, K. (eds), Kilkenny: History and Society, 74-95. Dublin. Geography Publications.