This defensive structure, which the Civil Survey of 1654-6 rather charmingly described as a ‘thatched castle’, had been in the possession of Sir Edward Wingfield since 1641. Before Wingfield took control, the castle belonged to the Talbot family, who were prominent landowners in the area during the medieval and early modern periods.

The castle managed to survive the tumultuous centuries following the Cromwellian conquest, standing as a reminder of Ireland’s fortified past well into the 19th century. However, around 1835, practicality won out over preservation when the old tower house was demolished to provide building materials for the construction of Ballyman House. This wasn’t uncommon during this period; many of Ireland’s medieval structures met similar fates as landowners sought to modernise their estates with more fashionable Georgian and Victorian residences.

Whilst the tower house itself is long gone, its legacy hasn’t entirely vanished from the landscape. The rear portion of Ballyman House reportedly incorporates some features from earlier structures, including original stone facing and walls, suggesting that fragments of the site’s medieval past were literally built into its Georgian successor. These architectural remnants serve as tangible links to the time when this corner of Dublin was dotted with fortified dwellings, built to protect and project the power of Anglo-Norman and Old English families across the Irish countryside.