The strategic location at Threecastles was home to a medieval castle that stood for centuries before meeting its end around 1800, when it was demolished to make way for the local Rectory house.

The castle’s exact position, according to local historian Carrigan, was about 30 to 40 yards north of the medieval church that still marks the landscape today. Rather than completely erasing all traces of the fortress, the builders of the new Rectory incorporated elements of the old structure into their design. As noted by researcher Gibb in 1948, the lower storey of the original castle was repurposed to form the cellars of the Rectory, ensuring that at least some portion of the medieval building survived beneath the Georgian replacement.

This elevated position along the River Nore would have given the castle’s inhabitants control over both river traffic and the crossing point below, making it a valuable defensive position in medieval Kilkenny. Today, whilst the castle itself is gone, its memory persists in the place name Threecastles and in the stone foundations that still support the Rectory above.