Maynooth Castle Map c.1634

A Ground Plott of the Castle of Maynooth W^th other buildings there too belonginge

The plan would appear to show the work carried out by Robert Boyle, Earl of Cork, while he was guardian of George FitzGerald during his minority.

The Old Castle

The old castle keep, which possibly dates from the 1180s (O’Keeffe ?, -book Haden?- archaeology Ireland ), had become, by the turn of the 16th century, a sumptuous home for the Earls of Kildare complete with a famous library. However, the castle was besieged by Henry VIII’s crown forces during the rebellion of Ninth Earl’s son, Silken Thomas, in 1535, and much of its contents, including rich plate, wardrobe, and hangings, were recorded in state papers as being variously dispersed. The library may have survived this episode (paper The_Earls_of_Kildare_and_their_Books by A I S L I N G B Y R N E). It is uncertain what damage occurred from the siege, but the donjon was retained when in the 1630s the castle complex was remodelled by Robert Boyle, Earl of Cork. The keep was augmented by three new ranges of buildings surrounding the inner courtyard. No doubt these ranges were typical of Irish castle and large house architecture of the 1630s in being two to three stories with attic rooms, high gables and elaborate chimneys. The “new buildings” of the 1630s marked on the plan no longer exist but they incorporated the earlier gate tower and east corner tower, both of which remain on site today. From the existing fabric of these two structures there is evidence that the 1630s redevelopment incorporated the period’s new trend towards more open fenestration than had previously been shunned due to the insecure state of the country; ironically the country was about to see one of its most troubled periods of war and insecurity. These large mullioned widow openings were later blocked up and replaced with pseudo-gothic style arches, no doubt in the Romantic era, as they didn’t fit the perceived image of a medieval castle ruin. <<<<>>>>> However, it was also typical of the 17th century to retain defensive features where they existed, or to add them to new buildings. The defenses at Maynooth inevitably proved ineffective as the castle was destroyed within a short number of years after Boyle’s restructuring. (1641 war? see A I S L I N G B Y R N E p.113 pdf-p.5 quotes C.W. FitzGerald as claiming the Catholic forces took the library, in his history of the family)

The 17th Century Castle of the Plan — A Ground Plott of the Castle of Maynooth W^th other buildings there too belonginge

The plan shows us two large yards named after their practical function and an inner court that was surround on three sides, north, south, and east, by the ranges of new buildings. This inner court occupied the likely footprint of the original castle’s bawn, and was enclosed by a wall on its west, encompassing the original keep. To the south of this core area, that incorporated the gate, was a large green area which was enclosed by a wall. Opposite the gate on the other side of the green and incorporated into the defensive wall was the church with its tower, the latter strangely not indicated on the map, stables, and a number of defensive structures to provide flanking cover to the walls. A water course ran through the southern section of the green and what appears to be a bridge, unlabelled on the map, provides the only obvious entry into the castle complex.

Stak Yard Stack-yard
The names of the yards point to the primary function of a castle when all the power symbolism and military prowess is removed, that of the means of control of land, and the control of land for the purposes of exploiting it for profit. In medieval Ireland, as elsewhere, that meant the production of food and raw materials, such as wool, through farming. The Stak (stack) yard refers to a yard where stacks or ricks of hay would be stored for safety away from livestock while drying.

Slaughter Yard / Slaughter House

Located to the rear of the back range of buildings around the inner court is the area called the Slaughter Yard. This has a Slaughter House also marked on the plan in its north east corner. There was a gap of about three meters between the Round Tower and the Slaughter House, with no indication of a gate or wall on the plan. This would have left this area open and not secure. This yard also seems to be open to the Stak Yard to the west via a very narrow gap of about one meter just beyond the castle. Presumably the original bawn wall that formed the inner court gave security to the castle proper. The opening between the Slaughter House and the Round Tower gave access to the river, and therefore, water, a necessity for the messy business of the slaughter house.

The Spurr of the Gate

Depicted to the fore of the gate is a defensive feature called The Spurr of the Gate. This was apparently attached to the fore of the present gate structure we can still see on site today. From the plan the gate building protecting the inner court was located within an area called the Greene before the gate. This large area is depicted as being fully enclosed within the boundary wall complete with defensive bulwarks and would have other defensive features such as the tower of the church and the present east tower, yet no major entrance or gate is depicted on the plan leading into this area from outside the castle complex. The only indication of where the access into the green was located is a small bridge, depicted on the map but unlabelled, just over half way down the east wall. The only substantial entrance depicted on the plan is the present gate within the green area.

The c.1634 plan overlayed on a contemporary map

The map corresponded well to the contemporary layout considering its age and the fact that the version reproduced in the JCKAS had been transferred into various media using unknown methods. It did require, as is always the case with old maps, resizing and a certain amount of skewing in order to overlay as close as possible the contemporary map. Some inaccuracies persisted with the original plot and it was not possible to get a perfect match as the distances between the the Donjon/Keep, the gate house, and east corner tower were off relative to each other. However, the results are still relativity accurate and show how the complex extended far beyond the present boundaries, particularity to the south-east.

Zones of Notification

An area of archaeological interest is defined around all monuments registered on the Records of Monuments and Places (RMP) within which the owners of any lands are obliged to notify the National Monuments Service in advance of any works to be carried out. This is a requirement that falls under the of Section 12 of the National Monument’s Act (and termed a Zone of Notification). These zones are indicated on the Historic Environment Viewer maintained by the National Monuments Service. The current Zone of Notification for Maynooth Castle does not cover the entire footprint of the castle as indicated on the 1630s map, leaving out, as it does, the south-east corner of the complex including the entirety of stables block and the “New Bulwark” (if it was built) plotted on the 1630s map.

It is remarkable that the entire footprint of the castle as it was depicted on the 1630s map remains undeveloped except for a number of 18th and 19th century houses in this south-east corner and the road that cuts across the “Greene before the Gate” known as Parson Street. This is not likely to remain the case, however. Ironically, it is the south-east corner that is most likely to see development in the future. Only about thirteen meters south of the aforementioned “New Bulwark” a ‘protected structure’ (The Presbytery – Reg. No. 11803094 still shown on the Historic Environment Viewer), has been demolished and the site cleared and replaced by a carpark. It is, therefore, all the more important that the Zone of Notification be extended to include this area that was clearly marked on the map as part of the castle complex in the early 1630s.