Cill Dara · Leinster

Castles in County Kildare

13 castles, from Norman keeps to the tower houses that Gaelic and Anglo-Irish families raised in their hundreds — and the ones that are now four walls and a jackdaw.

The history of County Kildare ↗

The castles

Barretstown Castle

Norman 53.150, -6.600 Wikipedia ↗ Show on a map ↗

Barretstown Castle is a castle in Ballymore Eustace, County Kildare, Ireland. It stands on the site of a late 12th century Anglo-Norman castle. It now hosts the Barretstown camp for sick children.

Carbury Castle, County Kildare

Carbury Castle is a castle situated in the townland of Carbury, near the border between County Kildare and County Offaly. Carbury Castle was built in the 13th century by Pierce St. Leger.

Grange Castle

Tower house 53.375, -7.068 Wikipedia ↗ Show on a map ↗

Grange Castle, Irish: Caisleán na Gráinsí, is a tower house in Grange West, County Kildare, Ireland. It is an Irish National Monument.

Jigginstown Castle

Ruin 53.214, -6.682 Wikipedia ↗ Show on a map ↗

Jigginstown Castle is a ruined 17th-century house and National Monument near Naas, County Kildare, Ireland. It was constructed in the late 1630s when Ireland was under the reign of Charles I (1625–1649).

Kildare Castle

Ruin 53.157, -6.909 Wikipedia ↗ Show on a map ↗

Kildare Castle is a ruined castle located at Kildare in County Kildare, Ireland. Built in the 12th century as a motte and bailey castle by Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. The remains of a tower are the only above ground remains of the castle.

Kilkea Castle, County Kildare
Photograph: “The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0621, Page 413” by Dúchas © National Folklore Collection, UCD is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Kilkea Castle

Kilkea Castle is located 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of Castledermot, County Kildare, Ireland near the village of Kilkea on the R418 regional road from Athy to Tullow. It was a medieval stronghold, for over 700 years, of the Fitzgeralds, earls of Kildare.

Maynooth Castle, County Kildare
Photograph: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Maynooth Castle

Ruin 53.381, -6.594 Wikipedia ↗ Show on a map ↗

Maynooth Castle is a ruined castle in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland which stands at the entrance to the South Campus of Maynooth University. Constructed in the early 13th century, it became the primary residence of the Kildare Fitzmaurice and Fitzgerald family.

Rathcoffey Castle

Rathcoffey Castle is a 15th-century castle in Rathcoffey, County Kildare, Ireland. It is a National Monument.

Reeves Castle

Tower house 53.307, -6.564 Wikipedia ↗ Show on a map ↗

Reeves Castle is a 14th-century tower house (castle) located in County Kildare, Ireland. On the Record of Monuments and Places it bears the codes KD015-001 (enclosure) and KD015-002 (tower house).

Saint David's Castle

Norman 53.218, -6.662 Wikipedia ↗ Show on a map ↗

Saint David's Castle is a 13th-century Norman castle located in Naas, Ireland.

White's Castle, County Kildare
Photograph: Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

White's Castle

Tower house 52.992, -6.984 Wikipedia ↗ Show on a map ↗

White's Castle is a 16th-century tower house in Athy, County Kildare, Ireland. Built on the site of an earlier 15th-century castle, White's Castle was built to guard the main river crossing in Athy (Irish: Baile Átha Í, meaning 'town of the ford of Ae') and was extended over successive centuries.

Descriptions are Wikipedia's own opening lines, used under CC BY-SA 4.0 with a link to each article; the list and the coordinates come from the same place. Nothing here is a guide to access — many of these are private homes or stand in private fields.

Older than the castles

What stood in Kildare before anybody thought of building a keep.

Castles nearby

All Irish castles · County Kildare · Hidden Ireland