Rathcoffey Castle
Rathcoffey Castle | |
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Native name Irish: Caisleán Ráth Chofaigh | |
Type | Castle |
Location | Rathcoffey Demesne, Rathcoffey, County Kildare, Ireland |
Coordinates | 53°19′54″N 6°39′56″W / 53.331676°N 6.665488°W |
Built | 15th century |
Architectural style(s) | Norman |
Official name | Rathcoffey Castle |
Reference no. | 404 |
Rathcoffey Castle is a 15th-century
Location
Rathcoffey Castle is located in a field east of Rathcoffey village. It lies 4.3 km (2.7 mi) north-northwest of Straffan.
Building
The main surviving free-standing structure is the two-storey gatehouse leading to the enclosure in which the castle stood. It has a mullioned window in the east wall. It possibly dates to the 15th century.[1]
History
In 1453 an army led by
In 1580, William Wogan joined the Second Desmond Rebellion in support of the Roman Catholic cause. He was executed the following year and all his lands forfeited. The family regained Rathcoffey soon afterwards.[citation needed]
During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1640s) the Wogans sided with Parliament, and Colonel Monck's army marched on Rathcoffey castle, laying siege to it. With the castle's fall in 1642, many civilians were massacred; their bones were found in a forest in the 19th century. The castle's garrison were executed in Dublin.[2]
In the 18th century, the castle belonged to Richard Wogan Talbot. Archibald Hamilton Rowan (later a leading United Irishman) bought it from him in 1785 and built a new mansion on the site of the Castle incorporating the Wogan dwelling in this structure.[citation needed]
It later passed between numerous owners before coming into the possession of the
Architectural Notes
Rathcoffey Castle was a small castle or tower house for a few hundred years until a three-storey classical house was wrapped around the old structure which was retained. Internally the old castle consisted of one room divided in two by a freestanding double-sided fireplace. New windows were cut into the external walls to reflect the current taste in houses with sash windows. Five compartments were wrapped around two sides of the castle. The main staircase off the entrance hall was placed centrally on the new plan. To the left of the hall was an elegantly proportioned room with the servants' staircase off it. Behind the stairs was another service room. The main entrance hall was purely single storey leaving the building above to be somewhat C-shaped. As per castles or tower houses throughout Ireland, the lower floor was vaulted so as to support a solid floor at the first-floor level.[6]
References
- ^ "Travelmania Ireland - Rathcoffey Castle and Mansion House Ruins, County Kildare".
- ^ a b "Abandoned Ireland".
- ^ Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 London John Murray 1926
- ^ Patent Roll 37 Henry VI, petition by Robert Dowdall and his wife Anne Wogan to the King to have possession of Picton Castle restored to them
- ^ "Seamus Cullen's Personal Web Site".
- ^ Niall McCullough's 'Palimpsest, changes in the Irish Building Tradition' (Dublin, 1994) pp 56, 69 and 73