Castle, Arklow, Co. Wicklow

Between 1185 and 1189, John, son of Henry II and future King of England, granted Theobald Walter the castle and lands of Arklow in exchange for military service.

Castle, Arklow, Co. Wicklow

This land grant, recorded in the Calendar of Ormond Deeds, suggests that an earlier earth and timber castle likely stood on the site before Walter’s arrival. The original fortification may have been a ringwork castle, with the rock cut ditch visible to the west of the later stone castle possibly forming part of these early defences. When Walter constructed his stone castle, he appears to have followed the outline of this earlier ringwork structure.

The castle served as the administrative heart of the medieval manor of Arklow, which originally lay within County Carlow. Throughout its history, the fortress changed hands between English and Irish forces multiple times. In 1331, Lord Bermingham successfully defended it against an attack by the O’Tooles, though the Irish briefly captured it the following year before the English reclaimed and rebuilt it in 1332. The castle remained strategically important through the centuries; in 1594, its great hall hosted legal proceedings to settle disputes among local inhabitants, whilst various leases from the 16th and 17th centuries detail requirements for tenants to maintain and defend the castle walls, even specifying annual payments in barrels of herrings alongside monetary rent.

Today, the castle ruins consist of a circular corner tower and sections of curtain wall built on a rock outcrop overlooking the River Avoca. The tower, constructed from randomly coursed rubble stone and dating to the thirteenth century, once stood much taller than its current three floors, as shown in eighteenth century drawings. The surviving curtain wall runs southeast from the angle tower before turning south, varying in height from 4 to 8 metres. Architectural features include narrow loops with sandstone jambs, the remains of a large window with bar holes for glazing, and a pointed doorway with chamfered sandstone jambs on the second floor, possibly leading to a former wall walk.

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OSL – Ordnance Survey Letters. Letters written by members of the Ordnance Survey’s ‘Topographical Department’ (T. O’Conor, A. O’Curry, E. Curry, J. O’Donovan and P. O’Keeffe) sent to headquarters from the field (1834-41). MSS in Royal Irish Academy. Curtis, E. (ed.) 1932 Calendar of Ormond Deeds 1172-1350 A.D. Vol. 1. Dublin. The Stationery Office. Curtis, E. 1943 (ed.) Calendar of Ormond Deeds 1584-1603 A.D. Vol. 6. Dublin. The Stationery Office. Curtis, E. (ed.) 1937 Calendar of Ormond Deeds 1509-1547 A.D. Vol. 4. Dublin. The Stationery Office. Price, L. 1936 The Byrne’s country in Co. Wicklow in the sixteenth century: and the manor of Arklow. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 66, 41-66. Hall, Mr. and Mrs. S.C. 1841-3 Ireland: its scenery, character, etc. (3 vols). London. How and Parsons. Bradley, J. and King, H.A. 1989 Urban archaeological survey – county Wicklow. Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin. Hibernia Regnum: A set of 214 barony maps of Ireland dating to the period AD 1655-59. The original parish maps have been lost but the Hibernia Regnum maps are preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris (Goblet 1932, v-x). Photographic facsimiles of these maps were published by the Ordnance Survey, Southampton in 1908. Whitty, Y. 2020 Community Monuments Fund 2020 Medieval Arklow Project Phase 1. Unpublished report, De Faoite Archaeology. Elmes, R. M. and Hewson, M. 1975 Catalogue of Irish Topographical Prints and Original Drawings in The National Library of Ireland. Malton Press. NLI, ET A766 National Library of Ireland, Vignette with Arklow Castle in the foreground, bridge and sea in backround. James T. Willmore, c. 1841-3. Plate in: Ireland : its scenery, character, &c. / by Mr. & Mrs. S. C. Hall. London : How and Parsons, 1841-43. Dublin. NLI, PD 1974 TX 1 (88) View of [Ormonde Castle, Arklow?] with small dwellings surrounding the ruins of the tower house. Castles of Ireland, Vol. 1, James Stark Fleming (c. 1894-1914). Dublin. NLI, PD 2097 TX National Library of Ireland, Ivied ruins of Arklow Castle, County Wicklow, Ireland. To the left is a thatched cottage adjacent to the ruins. To the right is another building. A couple with a dog stand in the foreground. Attributed to Pope Stevens Reilly. Dublin. Harbison, P. 2012 William Burton Conyngham and His Irish Circle of Antiquarian Artists. Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. Yale University Press. Grose, F. 1795 The antiquities of Ireland (second volume), 2 vols. London. M. Hooper.