Castle, Corballis, Co. Kildare
Hidden amongst dense undergrowth in Corballis, County Kildare, lie the forgotten remnants of what local tradition claims was once a castle.
Castle, Corballis, Co. Kildare
Today, the site serves a far less noble purpose as a dumping ground, with only scattered fragments of the original structure peeking through the heavy vegetation. These ruins, which appear on the 1908 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map, consist of roughly coursed walls built from large, undressed boulders of both granite and limestone; a construction method typical of defensive structures in medieval Ireland.
The historian FitzGerald, writing in the early 1900s, documented the local belief that these ruins were indeed those of a castle, preserving an oral tradition that had been passed down through generations of Corballis residents. However, architectural evidence suggests the story might be more complex than local lore indicates. The construction techniques and materials could equally point to these being the remains of a substantial seventeenth century house, perhaps built by a prosperous landowner during a period of relative stability following the tumultuous medieval era.
Without proper archaeological investigation, the true identity of this Corballis structure remains tantalisingly uncertain. Whether castle or manor house, the site represents a physical link to Ireland’s layered past, where grand structures could rise and fall within a few centuries, leaving behind only rubble and stories. The fact that these historic remains now lie neglected and used as a dump speaks to how easily our built heritage can slip from memory when not actively preserved or documented beyond old maps and folklore.