Castle, Jobstown, Co. Dublin
At the base of the Dublin Mountains, where a modern housing estate now stands in Jobstown, once stood a castle that played its part in Irish history.
Castle, Jobstown, Co. Dublin
The site’s past is revealed through historical records and aerial photography; a 1971 photograph captured two conjoined, raised rectangular earthworks that marked the castle’s footprint before development swept it away.
This castle appears on the Down Survey maps of 1655-6, one of the most important historical documents of 17th-century Ireland. The survey, commissioned by Oliver Cromwell to redistribute Irish lands to his soldiers and adventurers, meticulously recorded properties across the country. In the Books of Reference, this particular fortification is noted as a ‘castle in repair’ at Jobstowne, suggesting it was still functional and maintained during that turbulent period of Irish history.
The earthworks visible in the aerial photograph hint at what would have been a substantial structure, likely built to control and protect this strategic location at the foot of the mountains. While the physical castle has vanished beneath suburban development, its memory persists in historical documents and photographs, offering a glimpse into a time when fortified buildings dotted the Irish landscape, serving as homes, defensive positions, and symbols of power for those who controlled them.