Castle, Stephenstown, Co. Dublin
On a northwest-facing slope in Stephenstown, County Dublin, the remnants of what was once a substantial square building stand quietly in the pasture near a stream.
Castle, Stephenstown, Co. Dublin
The structure, measuring approximately 9 metres from northwest to southeast and 7 metres from southwest to northeast, exists today primarily as foundation stones, though a section of wall on the southwestern side still rises about a metre high, showing three to four courses of its original masonry. The randomly coursed stonework remains well mortared, a testament to the building techniques of its era, though unfortunately no architectural features survive that might help pinpoint its exact date of construction.
This ruin likely represents the ‘burnt castle’ mentioned in the Civil Survey of 1654-6, which records the property as being held by Elizabeth Finglas. The survey, conducted during the Cromwellian period to assess land ownership and confiscations, provides one of the few documentary references to this structure. The description of it as ‘burnt’ suggests it had already suffered significant damage by the mid-17th century, possibly during the turbulent years of the Confederate Wars or Cromwell’s campaign in Ireland.
Today, the castle remains sit at a low point in the landscape, their weathered stones offering a tangible connection to the complex history of land ownership and conflict in County Dublin. While the building lacks the dramatic towers or defensive features one might expect from a castle, its modest remains serve as a reminder that not all fortified houses were grand structures; many were simply sturdy homes built to withstand the uncertainties of medieval and early modern Ireland.