Site of Castle, Castlesize, Co. Kildare
In the landscaped grounds of Castlesize House in County Kildare, about 150 metres east of the River Liffey, local history tells of a castle that once stood proud but has since vanished without a trace.
Site of Castle, Castlesize, Co. Kildare
According to an Ordnance Survey Letter from 2002, historical accounts suggest that a castle formerly occupied this spot, though not even the smallest vestige of its structure remains today. The complete disappearance of such a substantial building speaks to the thorough erasure that time and human activity can wreak upon even the most solid of medieval fortifications.
The site’s proximity to the River Liffey would have made it a strategic location for a castle, offering both defensive advantages and access to water transport routes that were vital in medieval Ireland. Like many Irish castles, it likely served as both a defensive stronghold and a centre of local administration, controlling the surrounding lands and the movement of people and goods along this important river corridor. The fact that it warranted inclusion in historical surveys suggests it held some significance in the area’s medieval landscape.
By 1985, when archaeologists conducted a field survey of the site, they could find no physical evidence of the castle’s existence; no foundations, no earthworks, not even scattered stones that might hint at where walls once stood. The transformation of the area into the landscaped grounds of Castlesize House likely played a significant role in obliterating any remaining traces. This complete absence makes the site a particularly intriguing example of Ireland’s lost heritage, where documentary evidence and place names are sometimes all that remain to mark where centuries of history once unfolded.