Castle - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on level parkland in Powerscourt Estate. The present site of Powerscourt House has been identified with a castle built in Balyteny in 1316 which was in ruins by 1355 (Price 1953, 122-3). Between 1482 and 1500 a castle was built at Powers Courte by the 8th Earl of Kildare and this was destroyed by the O'Tooles in 1535. Repairs were carried out in the same year but in 1541 the castle passed into the hands of the O'Tooles. The castle was partly levelled in 1650 (Fitzgerald 1909-11, 127-39). The present house, itself destroyed by fire in 1974, was built before 1851 and may have incorporated part of the 16th-century structure (Price 1953, 122-3). There are no visible traces of early features.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload/revision: 17 December 2008

References

FitzGerald, Lord W. 1909-11 The manor and castle of Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow in the sixteenth century, formerly a possession of the Earls of Kildare. Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society 6, 127-39.

Price, L. 1953 Powerscourt and the territory of Fercullen. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 83, 117-32.