Category Archives: Castles

The Last One Standing

  This lonely Tower house sits in a field to the west of Jigginstown House which I spoke about a few weeks ago. It dates back to the early part of the 15th century and is typical of the many … Continue reading

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Maigh Reichead Castle

The crumbling ruins of Maigh Reichead Castle have fascinated me for many years. As you travel the M7 towards Portlaoise you will notice the ruins of this once fine castle rising up over the horizon. After passing it by on … Continue reading

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A Manor fit for a King.

Out of all the sites I have visited over the course of the past few years, these ruins must be the most hideous and depressing. Sigginstown or Jigginstown House as it is now know is currently a National Monument in … Continue reading

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The Last Remains – Kildare Castle

It has been about four years since I first visited what remains of Kildare Castle. With the wealth of heritage sites in the area such as the Cathedral and the numerous Abbey’s you would expect to find a rather large fortification, … Continue reading

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Nenagh Castle

Situated on a flat plain to north end of Nenagh in North Tipperary, stands a rather impressive round shaped Tower, which dates back to the early thirteenth century. This was once part of the magnificent fortress that was Nenagh Castle. … Continue reading

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Dún Masc

As promised I got back out on the road finally, and even managed to bring along my three little ruin hunters and my nephew. So with a packed car I thought there would be no better place to start off … Continue reading

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Carlow Castle

Some of you might remember my visit to St. Mullins recently, well on the way I passed through Carlow town and spotted a part of this Castle rising up above the towns rooftops in the distance. And so my curiosity … Continue reading

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Aghaboe Motte and Bailey

The last of the sites on our recent visit to Aghaboe was the Motte and Bailey Situated in between the Standing Stone and Abbey. Aghaboe or  Achadh Bhó to give it its proper Gaelic name,  means Ox’s Field and derived … Continue reading

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Black Castle

I have been spending a lot of time this year exploring county Carlow and this is just another reason why. Black Castle was one of those surprise finds which I regularly come across. I was actually heading down south to … Continue reading

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The Pigeon Tower

The first site we visited on our recent Kildare trip was the old Tower ruin in Nurney. I had previously had a rather unsuccessful visit here in January 2012. At the time there was no access into the field, so … Continue reading

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