Abban established a church here. By the 14th century, this had grown into a thriving borough, with the burgesses paying 60 shillings annually for their burgage rights in 1348. The settlement found itself caught up in the territorial conflicts of the time; around 1358, the Earl of Kildare defended Killabban against attacks from the O’Mordha clan of Slemargy, though the borough began its decline towards the end of that century.

The most prominent feature of the medieval landscape was a motte, a flat-topped earthen mound that once stood about 6 metres high with a base diameter of roughly 18 metres, surrounded by faint traces of a defensive ditch or fosse. This Norman fortification likely dates to the late 12th or early 13th century, when the area formed part of the Anglo-Norman expansion into Leinster. Historical records suggest that Killabban was probably included in Robert de Bigarz’s grant of Oboy and passed through various noble hands, from the Marshalls to the De Cantilupes, before reaching John de Hastings in 1283. By 1318, William de Warrewyk was returning the manor to the Hastings family, indicating the complex web of medieval land ownership that characterised the period.

Unfortunately, the physical remains of this once-important settlement met an inglorious end in March 1986 when the motte was completely levelled as part of a land clearance project. Today, only aerial photographs from 1991 reveal cropmarks where the motte once stood, along with faint boundary lines that might indicate the location of the deserted medieval village. These ghostly outlines in the fields are all that remain visible of a settlement that witnessed over a thousand years of Irish history, from early Christian foundations through Anglo-Norman conquest to eventual abandonment.