County: Wicklow Site name: DELGANY: Kindlestown Castle
Sites and Monuments Record No.: WI008–017 Licence number: 01E0084 ext.
Author: Colm Moriarty, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Castle - hall-house
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 727551m, N 711841m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.141808, -6.093447
A small excavation was carried out at Kindlestown Castle, Delgany, Co. Wicklow, in October 2006. The medieval castle is located within a modern housing development called Dromont, off Kindlestown Upper Road, which leads from Greystones to Delgany. The castle is a rectangular hall-house, the ground plan of which measures 21m east–west by 9.8m (internally 18m east–west by 6.6m wide). Construction of the castle was probably started by Albert de Kenley in c. 1300 but may have been completed by the Archbold family, who had become very prominent in the area by the mid-14th century. It was to remain in the Archbold hands until the 17th century, when the Earl of Meath eventually purchased it. The castle is a late example of a hall-house, most of which are dated to the early 13th century (Simpson 2002).
The area resolved during this excavation programme was located in the eastern part of the castle adjacent to its northern wall. It measured 2.9m east–west by 3m. The remaining interior of the castle had been excavated by Linzi Simpson in 2001 (Excavations 2001, No. 1354). Five levels of activity were recognised during the 2006 phase of excavation, the majority of which were post-medieval in date. The only medieval features identified were a cluster of nine stake-/post-holes that cut natural boulder clay adjacent to the northern wall of the castle. In the limited area that was excavated, these features failed to form any coherent structural pattern. However, they are very similar in form and layout to post-holes previously identified by Simpson. She suggested that they might represent some sort of internal divisions within the barrel vault which were replaced continually over time. The absence of more substantial medieval remains was probably related to a large 17th-century drain that truncated most of the excavation area. Later activity at the site included a truncated red-brick oven and successive post-medieval clay and mortar surfaces.
Post-excavation work for this site is ongoing.
Reference
Simpson, L. 2002 Archaeological and Architectural Appraisal of Kindlestown Castle, Delgany, Co. Wicklow. Unpublished report submitted to Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
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