19 Old Ruins to Explore in Kildare

A majestic castle situated in the townland of Carbury, on the borders of Kildare and Offaly. The area is dominated by the ruins of this great Tudor mansion set atop Carbury Hill, which was also known as Fairy Hill. It is a typical tower house- a single, multi storied rectangular building, with various annexes containing staircases and latrines.

Castledermot Abbey is a ruined Franciscan friary in Castledermot, County Kildare, in the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in about the year 1300. A previous monastery was founded on the same site by Diarmait, a son of Áed Róin, King of Ulster, in the ninth century AD. The solid stonework is well preserved, seeming as secure and strong as the day it was first constructed.

This ancient church at Castledermot was formerly known as Díseart Diarmada, meaning Dermot’s hermitage. The monastery was raided by the Vikings in the 9th century, but continued its existence at least until the 12th century. All that is left today is a splendidly reconstructed Romanesque doorway, which came from a church that has since vanished.

A majestic country house set amongst beautiful eighteenth-century parklands on the banks of the Liffey in Celbridge, County Kildare.It formed the centrepiece of a 550-acre estate. Sold to developers in 1965, the estate is now divided between State and private ownership. It was home to a significant collection of paintings, furnishings and objets d’art. Highlights include three eighteenth-century Murano-glass chandeliers and the only fully intact eighteenth-century print room in the country.

The first Manor house was built by the Normans in the 12th Century and many castles were built on the site throughout the Middle Ages. The castle was extensively damaged in the 1641 rebellion, then rebuilt in 1773, and gothicised in 1827 by the architect Sir Richard Morrison. By the mid 1800s the Donadea estates were one of the largest in Co. Kildare, amounting to almost 16,000 acres.

The Dun Ailinne site is a large circular enclosure located on the hill of Knockaulin in County Kildare Ireland. Documentary sources traditionally refer to it as one of four Irish ‘royal’ sites–significant pre-Christian social and political centers. Excavations in the 1960s indicated that the site was an important center of ceremonial and ritual activity during the Irish Iron Age.

Grange Castle,is in Grange West, County Kildare, Ireland. It is an Irish National Monument. It was now in ruin stage and therefore visitors are very less here.

Jigginstown Castle is a ruined 17th-century house and National Monument near Naas, County Kildare, Ireland. It was constructed in the late 1630s when Ireland was under the reign of Charles I. At the time it was one of the largest buildings in Ireland, and the first to be constructed of red brick: the plans provided for a pavement and columns of Kilkenny marble.

Kildare Castle is a ruined castle located at Kildare in County Kildare, Ireland. Built in the 12th century as a motte and bailey castle by Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. The remains of a tower are the only above ground remains of the castle. This elegant and spacious Irish Castle is ideal for family gatherings, private weddings, civil partnerships and corporate events. The 11-bedroom castle also has a Drawing Room, Restaurant and of course its very own Castle Bar for you to enjoy.

This majestic stone castle was founded in the early thirteenth century. The castle was built at the junction of two streams and became the home of the Fitzgerald family before its expansion by Sir John Fitzgerald in the 15th century. It became the seat of power for the FitzGeralds, the earls of Kildare, as they emerged as one of the most powerful families in Ireland. Now a main attraction in this area and attracts a lot of tourists to this history.

Mullaghmast is a very large standing stone, and is located about 3km west of Ballitore in County Kildare. The site includes earthworks, ringforts, barrows. The overall site is dominated by Rath Mor, or ancient fort. This site includes earthworks, ringforts, barrows and a standing stone, with the overall site being dominated by Rath Mor. A rath in Irish means an ancient fort.

Old Kilcullen is the site of a round tower and a decorated High Cross. Another, much older, historic site, Dun Ailinne, is located approximately one kilometre away to the north at Knockaulin. It was formerly the site of a walled town, and before that of an ecclesiastical settlement dating from the 5th century. The original settlement gave its name to the substantial surrounding civil parish and barony.

The tower is approximately 40 ft high and the top parts suffered a lot of damage in 1798. An account written in 1782 tells of there being four large windows in the upper part of the tower but only the semblance of one now remains. The present remains at the complex include small portions of a Romanesque church, two high-cross shafts and a round tower

The Punchestown Standing Stone is the tallest and most remarkable of several long stones in County Kildare. It's overall length when measured on the ground was 7m and it weighed 9.22 tons. Out of around 600 standing stones in southwestern Ireland, this is the tallest. It fell over in 1931, and was re-erected three years later.

Saint David's Castle is a 13th-century Norman castle located in Naas, Ireland. It dates from the early Hiberno-Norman era, perhaps as early as 1200. John visited Naas in 1206. He visited again in 1210, when he held a form of Parliament in the town. About this time County Kildare became a separate county.

Tea Lane Graveyard is a Christian cemetery located in Celbridge, Ireland. The site is located 500 m northwest of the River Liffey and is the reputed burial site of Saint Mochua of Timahoe. Mochua built a wooden church on the site and was the first abbot of Clondalkin. It stood on the Slighe Mhor, an ancient roadway which ran from Dublin to Galway.

Grey Abbey is a ruined abbey in County Kildare, Ireland. It was run by Franciscan friars. It was founded in 1260 by William de Vesci, however it was completed by Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Offaly. Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Kildare was buried here.

The Wonderful Barn in Ireland’s County Kildare is a distinctive, corkscrew-shaped building on the grounds of the Castletown House Estate. Based on the design of an Indian rice store, the 70ft-high conical grain store is encircled by a cantilevered staircase with a crow’s nest viewing gallery. The site stands next to a crescent-shaped piece of development land, where a housing project by Albany Homes was abandoned in the noughties.

White Castle was built in 1417 by Sir John Talbot the Viceroy of Ireland to protect the newly built bridge over the River Barrow. It is located in the centre of Athy, on the east bank of the River Barrow, overlooking Crom Abú Bridge.It is three-storey tower house with a battered base. On the right of the main doorway is a depiction of coat-of-arms of the Earl of Kildare.