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Castles in County Kildare.
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Kilkea
Castle |
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| Kilkea Castle was built in the 1100's by "Sir Walter de Riddlesford", a knight who was part of the Anglo Norman invasion, it is situated in the heart of Kildare, about 40 miles south of Dublin. When a grand daughter of Riddlesford married a Fitzgerald the castle passed into the ownership of the Geraldines.
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Maynooth
Castle. |
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| (Nuadhat's plain.) The keep of this castle was begun in 1203 by Gerald fitz Maurice (FitzGerald), baron of Offaly. It was modified and enlarged by his successors, especially John the sixth earl in 1426. In the early sixteenth century another major restoration was carried out by the earl of Cork, father in law to the fifteenth earl of Kildare It was from this castle that Garret Mór FitzGerald, the eighth earl ruled Ireland from 1478 to 1513. Also from here during the Geraldine Rebellion "Silken Thomas" FitzGerald, baron of Offaly took his final stand against the English. The fall of the castle marking the beginning of the Tudor conquest of Ireland.
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Leixlip
Castle. |
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| (Salmon Leap.) Leixlip castle was built in the early 1200's, it was from here that King John accompanied by English knights and barons, set out to hunt moose, red deer and wolves in the great oak forests and river banks of County Kildare. The castle had many occupants over the centuries one of which was the Honorable William Conolly, nephew of the speaker of the Irish Parliament.
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