- Kilkea Castle
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History of the Castle
Sir Walter de Riddlesford built amotte and bailey castle there in 1181. A grand daughter of his marriedMaurice Fitzgerald ,3rd baron of Offaly , and so the Manor ofKilkea came into the possession of theFitzgeralds and was to remain in the family for over 700 years.The castle is particularly, associated with Gerald, the
11th Earl of Kildare known as the "Wizard Earl ", who became the male representative of theGeraldines when only twelve years of age after his half brother "Silken Thomas " the 10th earl, was executed at Tyburn in 1537. The "Wizard Earl" was sent to the continent to be educated, and following his return to Kildare his interest inalchemy caused much interest among his neighbours around Kilkea Castle and he was said to possess magic powers.The Earl died in 1585 and is supposed to return to the castle every seventh year mounted on a silver-shod white charger. [ [http://www.hauntedhotelguide.com/hauntings.asp?id=181"The Haunted Hotel Guide"] ] In 1634 the castle was leased to the
Jesuit Order by the widow of the14th Earl of Kildare and they remained there until 1646. That year the order entertained theArchbishop Rinuccini ,Papal Nuncio to theConfederation of Kilkenny at Kilkea.In the early eighteenth century the
19th Earl of Kildare decided to makeCarton House the family seat and Kilkea Castle was leased to a succession oftenants . One of these tenants was Thomas Reynolds, a Dublin silk merchant, who was a "friend" of the Kildare hero of 1798, LordEdward Fitzgerald , through whom Reynolds had became aUnited Irishman , only to become an informer. His role as informer did not prevent the castle which had been recently done up in fine style being sacked by military during the rebellion. After a fire in 1849 the3rd Duke of Leinster , Lord Walter was a founder member of theKildare Archaeological Society in 1891 and undoubtedly the greatest antiquarian Kildare has ever had. He was editor of the "Journals of the Association of the Preservation of the Memorial of Dead in Ireland " from 1904 until his death in 1923. After Carton was sold in 1949 Kilkea Castle became the seat of the8th Duke of Leinster .The Castle now
The castle and estate was finally sold by the
Fitzgeralds family in the early 1960s. Kilkea Castle is now a hotel.External links
* [http://www.kilkeacastle.ie The hotel's webpage]
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