According to research by Bradley and colleagues in 1986, an 18th-century account from 1788 placed this castle to the east of the Tholsel, which served as Naas’s centre of civic administration. However, the plot thickens when we consider that what was known as Wheatley’s Castle might actually be the same structure as the Rose and Crown, adding another layer to the town’s architectural puzzle.

This confusion isn’t uncommon when tracing medieval buildings through centuries of changing ownership, renovations, and repurposing. Tower houses like this one were typical defensive structures built by Anglo-Norman and Gaelic families throughout Ireland from the 14th to 17th centuries. They served dual purposes as both fortified residences and symbols of power, often controlling important routes or overseeing valuable agricultural lands around market towns like Naas.

The castle’s location in Naas East places it within one of County Kildare’s most historically significant towns, which has served as the county seat since medieval times. Whether it stood as Wheatley’s Castle or transformed into the Rose and Crown, this tower house represents the layers of history that characterise Irish towns, where medieval fortifications evolved to meet the changing needs of subsequent generations, sometimes leaving historians to piece together their true identities from fragmentary records and archaeological evidence.