County: Kildare Site name: KILKEA CASTLE HOTEL, Kilkea Demesne
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 97E0443
Author: Mary McMahon
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 674928m, N 688786m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.944637, -6.885155
Archaeological assessment of the proposed development of accommodation units beside a Golf Clubhouse in the grounds of Kilkea Castle Hotel included the mechanical excavation of four trial-trenches, each measuring approximately 20m long by 1m wide. The hotel is a much-restored 15th-century castle but, as the name Kilkea suggests, it was the site of an early ecclesiastical settlement. A ruined church and graveyard close to the castle is possibly 16th-century in date, although there are 13th-century references to it. A large tree-covered motte close to the hotel is probably the castle built in 1181 for Walter de Ridelsford. A 15th-century account notes a number of associated buildings.
Despite the site's rich historical background, no archaeological deposits were revealed by the test-trenching.
77 Brian Road, Marino, Dublin 3
