| Authorities Consulted. |
| Smith, “State of the County and City of Cork”; also Copenger, “Historical Notes in New Edition” of same. |
| Gibson, “History of the County and City of Cork.” |
| Bennett, “History of Bandon.” |
| Marquis of Kildare, “Earls of Kildare.” |
| Carew MSS. |
| Parliamentary Gazetteer. |
KILKEA CASTLE
“And, oh! through many a dark campaign
They proved their prowess stern,
In Leinster’s plains and Munster’s vales,
On king, and chief, and kern.
But noble was the cheer within
The halls so rudely won,
And generous was the steel-gloved hand
That had such slaughter done.
How gay their laugh, how proud their mien,
You’d ask no herald’s sign—
Amid a thousand you had known,
The princely Geraldine.”
This castle was built by Hugh de Lacy, Chief Governor of Ireland, for Walter de Riddlesford, Baron of Bray, who had been granted the surrounding district of Omurethi by Strongbow. De Riddlesford’s granddaughter, Emelina inherited the manors of Kilkea and Castledermot through her mother, and she, marrying Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Baron of Offaly, the property passed to the Geraldines who still possess Kilkea Castle, which is one of the seats of the Duke of Leinster, where some of the family at present reside.
Kilkea signifies the Church of St. Kay, or Caoide, and the barony derives its name from the churchyard situated a few perches north-west of the castle.
The fortress is built on the banks of the River Greese, a tributary of the Barrow, about five miles south-east of Athy. Its position was a particularly exposed one, being
KILKEA CASTLE.