The 1841 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map marks this spot as the ‘Site of Castle’, though by the time historian FitzGerald documented the area between 1903 and 1905, he noted that no visible surface remains could be found. Today, visitors to the parkland would have no indication that a fortification once occupied this space; the castle has been entirely erased by time, leaving only its notation on historical maps as evidence of its existence.

The exact history of this lost castle remains somewhat mysterious, as is often the case with structures that disappear so completely from the physical record. What we know comes primarily from cartographic evidence and the careful work of archaeologists who documented these absences in the landscape. The castle’s complete disappearance suggests it may have been demolished for building materials, a common fate for abandoned fortifications in Ireland, or it may have simply crumbled away through centuries of neglect.

This information comes from the Archaeological Inventory of County Laois, published in 1995 by the Dublin Stationery Office and compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock, and Bernie Moran. Their meticulous cataloguing of archaeological sites, including those that exist only in historical memory, helps preserve knowledge of Ireland’s built heritage, even when the structures themselves have long since disappeared. The inventory entry for this site was uploaded to digital records on 17 December 2007, ensuring that future generations will know a castle once stood here, even if they cannot see it.