Bu
rnchurch Castle : This is a 15th or 16th century castle built by the Burnchurch branch of the FitzGerald family. It is 6 storeys high, and has an unusually large number of passages and chambers inside the walls. There is a 'secret chamber' off the 4th floor and a fireplace and round chimney (the latter possibly a later addition) on the top floor. A walled courtyard was originally attached to the castle, and of this the 41 foot high circular turret near the castle still remains. The castle was last occupied in 1817.
*
rnchurch Castle : This is a 15th or 16th century castle built by the Burnchurch branch of the FitzGerald family. It is 6 storeys high, and has an unusually large number of passages and chambers inside the walls. There is a 'secret chamber' off the 4th floor and a fireplace and round chimney (the latter possibly a later addition) on the top floor. A walled courtyard was originally attached to the castle, and of this the 41 foot high circular turret near the castle still remains. The castle was last occupied in 1817.*
Glin Castle Glin Castle is one of Ireland's great heritage houses, on land held for over 700 years by the FitzGerald family, hereditary Knights of Glin.
*Kilkea Castle -- Castledermot, Co. Kildare -- de Lacy, Fitzgerald - second home of the Maynooth Fitzgeralds Kilteel Church and Castle ; Kilteel, Kildare. In the medieval church a 12th century Romanesque chancel arch has been partially re-erected. It is unique in that it is the only Romanesque chancel arch in Ireland which has figure sculpture. On the south side can be seen Adam and Eve, a man with drinking horn, two figures embracing, an acrobat and David with the head of Goliath, while on the north side there is Samson and the Lion, two bearded faces, an abbot with a crosier and other figures. Nearby is a granite cross. Not far away Maurice Fitzgerald, Second Baron of Offaly, founded a Preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers before his death in 1257, and dedicated it to St. John the Baptist. In 1335 Robert Clifford was appointed Porter of the Commandery and was ordered to repair the castle (a precursor of the present building). What remains is a 15th century tower and gateway of five storeys, of which the first and fifth are roofed with barrel vaults. A spiral staircase leads to the roof. The castle was suppressed in 1541, and granted in the following year to Sir John Allen. By the end of the 17th century it had passed to Richard Talbot, later Duke of Tyrconnel. In 1703 it was sold to the Hollow Sword Blade Company, and in 1704 to William Fownes. Further parts of the old Preceptory can be seen near the bridge not far from the church.
*Kilteel Castle The village of Kilteel lies six miles north of Naas at the foot of the Wicklow 
mountains. It is here that we find Kilteel Castle.
It was built in the early thirteenth century by Maurice Fitzgerald for the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. The site upon which the castle was built was once a monastic settlement.
There is little mention of the castle in the fifteenth century but in the sixteenth century the lease was given to Thomas Alen and his wife. In 1669 Col. Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyreconnell became the owner of Kilteel. He then sold the castle to Sir William Fownes of Kilkenny.
It remained in his family until 1838 when it was sold to the Kennedys of Johnstown-Kennedy. Today the castle is a designated National Monument. It consists of a tower house dated to the fifteenth century, another projecting towerhouse with a spiral stairs and two further rooms at the gate-way.
mountains. It is here that we find Kilteel Castle.It was built in the early thirteenth century by Maurice Fitzgerald for the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. The site upon which the castle was built was once a monastic settlement.
There is little mention of the castle in the fifteenth century but in the sixteenth century the lease was given to Thomas Alen and his wife. In 1669 Col. Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyreconnell became the owner of Kilteel. He then sold the castle to Sir William Fownes of Kilkenny.
It remained in his family until 1838 when it was sold to the Kennedys of Johnstown-Kennedy. Today the castle is a designated National Monument. It consists of a tower house dated to the fifteenth century, another projecting towerhouse with a spiral stairs and two further rooms at the gate-way.
*
Maynooth Castle Maynooth, Kildare. The castle was probably begun by Gerald Fitzgerald, Baron of Offaly, in 1203. the main tower, one of the largest of its kind, was built in three successive phases, but the vaults on the ground floor were added probably long after the rest of the tower had been completed. The inside of the tower was divided into two main rooms for each floor, as at Trim, Co. Meath, and the walls are preserved almost to the top where fragments of the original turret at the north-eastern angle can still be seen. The tower stood in an enclosure which was surrounded by a curtain wall, of which the main entrance gate (present entrance to castle), parts of the south-eastern tower (much restored in 16th - 17th century) and the north-eastern tower as well as much of the eastern and northern portions of the wall itself remain. the arches in the east wall mark the site of a large hall which was used up till the 17th century. In 1328 the castle had two gates; one leading to the tower, the other to the garden. It was enlarged in 1426 by John, 6th Earl of Kildare. In 1521 a college was founded nearby, but it was suppressed at the Reformation, only to open its gates again in 1795. The College is now part of the National University, and houses a Museum of Ecclesiology. In 1535, during the rebellion of the castle's owner, Silken Thomas (see St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin), the castle was treacherously taken by the Lord Deputy, William Skeffington. Until 1540 the Lords Deputy used it as their residence, but in 1552 the Castle and Estates were restored to Gerald, 11th Earl of Kildare. The Earl of Cork, who was the father-in-law of the 16th Earl of Kildare, restored the Castle in 1630 and subsequent years. The Confederate Catholics occupied the Castle in 1641, but it was rendered harmless at the end of the war. The Fitzgeralds abandoned the castle probably about 1656.
