Though no castle appears on modern Ordnance Survey maps, Taylor’s 1783 Map of County Kildare marks one at this location, situated in tillage land at the southwestern foot of a steep hill. The area, known locally as ‘Castle Field’, has long carried whispers of its former grandeur, though any visible traces have vanished into the landscape.

In 1986, clearance works in this very field uncovered remarkable evidence supporting the local folklore. Workers discovered a hoard of pewter plates, fragments of two cauldrons, a medieval tile, and an undated token; artefacts that speak to the domestic life of a substantial medieval household. These finds, now held by the National Museum of Ireland, suggest that a castle indeed once stood here, though time and agriculture have erased its physical footprint.

The absence of visible ruins makes Athgarrett Castle all the more intriguing. Unlike the dramatic stone towers that punctuate Ireland’s countryside, this site exists only in historical maps, local memory, and the occasional treasure that surfaces from the soil. It serves as a reminder that Ireland’s medieval landscape was far more densely populated with fortifications than what survives today, with countless castles lost to time, their stories preserved only in place names and chance discoveries.