Maynooth Castle

National Monument No. 485. The Manor of Maynooth was granted by Strongbow to Maurice Fitzgerald who erected Maynooth castle, probably in the late-1180s. At the beginning of the 14th century, the castle became principal residence of Kildare Geraldines. It was altered/enlarged by John (the sixth Earl) in 1426. In 1518, the ninth Earl requested a licence to found and endow a college. In 1540, the dissolution documents relating to the Franciscan Friary in Clane (KD014-026005-) noted that the church, chancel and part of the dormitory there had been destroyed, and the building material was reused in the repair of the King's castle in Maynooth. (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 245). Kilkea Castle (KD037-017002-) had been the principal seat of the family from the time of the 1641 rebellion, when Maynooth Castle was dismantled (JKAS 1891-5, 222-32). The remains consist of a keep, a rectangular gatehouse, SE tower, postern, parts of the great hall and gallery. Parts of a manorial church associated with the castle are incorporated in the nearby St Mary's Church of Ireland church (KD005-016). The rectangular keep (dims. L c. 22.6m N-S; Wth c. 19.4m E-W; max. wall T c. 2.1m) has an entrance 6.3m above ground level. There are two barrel-vaulted chambers on the ground floor, and intramural passages survive in three of its walls. The SE tower was extensively altered during restoration works and has an entrance in the N side. Internally, the floors appear to have been accessed via ladders and there is a murder hole over the first floor. (Sweetman 1999, 67-9)

In 1996, archaeological excavation (Licence No. 96E0391 ext.) of the whole of the interior of the keep was undertaken for Dúchas, The Heritage Service, before the development of the ground floor as an exhibition space. Seven main phases of occupation of the site were evidenced.

Part of a rectangular prehistoric building (designated KD005-015001-) was the stratigraphically earliest structure uncovered. No finds were associated with it; however, a stone axe head and unfinished macehead, as well as a number of waste flakes of flint, were uncovered in early medieval contexts and may derive from the structure.

At least two small post-and-wattle round houses (designated KD005-015002- and KD005-015003-), each c. 5m in diameter, were constructed over the prehistoric remains and are probably of early medieval date. No datable finds were recovered, but carbon samples were retrieved from their hearths and post-holes. The latest of the round houses (designated KD005-015003-) appears to have had a curving wooden stockade added to one side of it. The house would appear to be contemporary with the beginning of the cultivation of the site, which was evidenced by regularly spaced shallow furrows. The cultivation later overwhelmed the house and continued until the arrival of the Anglo-Normans.

The site appears to have fallen into Norman hands in around 1175. The remains of a mound of sod c. 1m high were uncovered dating to the beginning of the Anglo-Norman occupation. The remains of a rectangular post-and-wattle building (designated KD005-015004-) survived on top of the mound, which was delimited by a stout wooden fence with an entrance in its east side. An arrowhead, an iron spur and a scabbard chape were amongst the finds from this level. Pottery consisted of Ham Green ware.

The initial construction of the stone keep, probably in the late 1180s, was evidenced by thick mortar slicks. The original keep was divided into two rooms by three piers that supported the first floor. The ground floor of the castle was radically altered, most likely in the early-15th century, when two wicker-centred barrel vaults were inserted, supported on a new spine wall that linked the older internal piers. A second mortar slick and the sockets of timber supports for the arch-centring marked this activity. A well (designated KD005-015005-) was found in the W-half of the keep. It was infilled, possibly when the ground floor was altered, and another was opened nearby (designated KD005-015006-). The keep continued to be occupied until the 16th century, when it fell in the Silken Thomas Rebellion and was badly damaged. Slight evidence of the reoccupation of the castle in the 17th century was uncovered. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the keep was again reused, but this time one half of the ground floor was used to store coal. The eastern doorway was blocked up (the outside of the keep being used as a handball alley), and a new doorway was opened in its western wall. A stone staircase was built and led, via a breach in the vaulting, up to the first floor.

A good assemblage of medieval pottery (including several largely complete jugs) and wooden objects (the latter from the well) were found. The animal, bird and fish bone assemblages would appear to be of interest as they include fallow deer from the deer park as well as immature seal bones and other oddities. (Hayden, A. Maynooth Castle, Maynooth. No. 1999:405. Prehistoric and early medieval settlement and Anglo-Norman castle. 96E0391 ext. [Online] Available at http://www.excavations.ie) [Accessed 11 August 2009]; Lawrence 1809-11, 495; 4th Duke of Leinster 1891-5, 223-4, 226, 228, 231-239; Mangan 1906-8, 56-7; Fitzgerald 1914, 281-3; leask 1936, 155-6; Killanin and Duignan 1967, 371; Harbison 1975, 124)