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Recorded monument · KD022-029009 · Co. Kildare

Town defences at Kildare, Co. Kildare (KD022-029009)

On the Sites and Monuments Record.

143 planning applications in the last 10 years fall inside this monument’s zone of notification, and 17 An Coimisiún Pleanála cases touch it.

143
in the zone, 10 years
143
in the zone, all years
17
ACP cases in the zone
33
within 100 m, 10 years

Zone of notification 38.38 ha

A zone of notification is the area around a recorded monument where the council normally refers a planning application to the National Monuments Service, which can ask for an archaeological assessment or conditions before permission is granted. Recorded monuments and planning permission: the guide.

Planning applications in the zone of notification 143 applications in the last 10 years

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Showing the newest 100 of 143. The full list is in the free report.

Appeals in the zone of notification 17 with An Coimisiún Pleanála

Building work started in the zone of notification 26 commencement notices

The record KD022-029009

SMR number
KD022-029009
Class
Town defences
Townland
Kildare, Co. Kildare
Named on the OS map
Not indicated
National record
National Monuments Service record for KD022-029009

According to Bradley et al. (1986 vol. 3, 213), a charter of 1515 authorised the burgesses of Kildare to enclose the town with a stone wall and a fosse, for which a murage grant was provided. Thomas (1992, 125) suggests that that grant, ‘… made a few years after the death of the “great earl” of Kildare but during the lord deputy-ship of his son, may therefore have been to restore an existing but decayed wall, or else to upgrade a simple earthen enclosure.’ While the existence of a murage grant is not proof positive that defences were either constructed or repaired at that date, Kildare’s frontier location strongly suggests that town defences were a necessity, unless the strong Anglo Norman castle (KD022-029004-) was deemed sufficient to meet any threat. No visible physical evidence for the morphology of the town defences survives, and any description is based on, mainly later, historical sources, and any suggested town wall course is conjectural. The earliest reference to town gates only occurs in the later-17th century, when, in 1674, three gates are mentioned; Clare Gate, Ellis Gate and White Gate, and a Fire Castle, which may also have formed part of the defences. The Clare Gate was situated on Claregate Street on the W side of the town (PRONI D 30378/2/3/5), and is indicated on Roque's 1757 map. Bradley et al’s mapping (op. cit. 213, Fig. 85) suggests a location at c. ITM E 672649 N 712438. Ellis Gate was probably located on Station Road, on the highest point of the ridge at the NE side of the town. Bradley et al.’s mapping (op. cit 214, Fig. 85) suggest a location at c. ITM E 672912 N 712480. White Gate was located on the E side of the town on Dublin Street, possibly just SSE of the Anglo Norman castle (KD022-029004-). Bradley et al.’s mapping (op. cit. 214-5, Fig. 85) suggests a location at c. ITM E 672953 N 712333. The Fire Castle is shown on Rocque’s 1757 map, to the W of the Cathedral (KD022-029005-) and may have formed part of the town defences. Bradley et al.’s mapping (op. cit. 213-4, Fig. 85) suggests a location at c. ITM E 672673 N 712536. It’s likely there was a S gate, possibly near the S end of Bride Street. Bradley et al.’s mapping (op. cit. 213-4, Fig. 85) suggests a location at c. ITM E 672809 N 712232. Besides the town gates, Rocque’s map records ‘Black Ditch or Cleamore Street’ as the old name for Academy Street, which suggests the town’s SW defences ran along this line, between Clare Gate at W and a S gate. Thereafter, the defences would have followed a line possibly running E from a S gate before turning N to the White Gate and on to the NNW to Ellis Gate, then, skirting N of the Cathedral, back around to the Clare Gate, via Fire Castle. (Andrews and Simms 1986; Horner 1975-6, 480-84) Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 24 January 2012

Other records in the same zone

Buildings of Ireland (NIAH) within 100 m

  • 11817047 Bank of Ireland · Regional rating · 8 m
  • 11817046 house · Regional rating · 18 m
  • 11817048 Barrett House · Regional rating · 19 m
  • 11817001 monument · Regional rating · 28 m
  • 11817003 Kildare Market House · Regional rating · 36 m
  • 11817045 house · Regional rating · 38 m
  • 11817100 Virginia Lodge · Regional rating · 45 m
  • 11817002 1798 Monument · Regional rating · 47 m
  • 11817101 cinema · Regional rating · 52 m
  • 11817109 outbuilding · Regional rating · 54 m

Source: National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record · fetched 27 Sept 2026

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