Site of Kill Castle, Kilclonfert, Co. Offaly

Site of Kill Castle, Kilclonfert, Co. Offaly

Situated on a gentle rise in the rolling countryside of Kilclonfert, County Offaly, the remnants of Kill Castle tell a story of medieval fortification and religious life existing side by side.

Site of Kill Castle, Kilclonfert, Co. Offaly

What remains today are grass-covered stone footings that outline what was likely a sixteenth-century tower house, measuring roughly 10 metres east to west and 9 metres north to south internally. The structure may have featured corner towers on its southwest and northeast corners, though centuries of decay have left these details somewhat uncertain. Just to the north stands a church, whilst to the south, the traces of a rectangular bawn; a fortified courtyard typical of Irish tower houses; can still be discerned through its partially destroyed L-shaped earthen banks enclosing an area of approximately 53 by 80 metres.

The site reveals layers of history through its various features. A low bank connects the castle area to the graveyard wall and extends eastward, possibly marking an old roadway or lane whose origins remain mysterious. Evidence suggests there may have been another enclosure in the field west of the tower house, hinting at a more extensive complex than what first meets the eye. When surveyed in 1942, investigators noted that both the church and castle were approached from the east via an avenue lined with ancient hawthorn trees, with another such track visible on the castle’s south side, lending an almost ceremonial quality to the approaches.



Today, visitors to Kill Castle will find a flat-topped, slightly eroded mound measuring about 21 by 24 metres, with a rectangular depression at its centre where the keep once stood. The stone-lined walls, now covered in grass, create a peaceful archaeological landscape that invites contemplation about the families who once called this fortified home their own. Whilst excavation would be needed to fully understand the site’s complete layout and chronology, the visible remains offer a tangible connection to Ireland’s turbulent medieval past, when such tower houses served as both family homes and defensive strongholds in an uncertain world.

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Irish Tourist Association. Surveys undertaken in the 1940s for the Irish Tourist Association (now Fáilte Ireland) relating to ‘Natural features, antiquities, historic associations etc.’ Extracts from these surveys were copied into the Topographical files of the Office of Public Works and these have been incorporated into the Sites and Monuments Record files (National Monuments Service).
Kilclonfert, Co. Offaly
53.32740265, -7.36064782
53.32740265,-7.36064782
Kilclonfert 
Tower Houses 

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