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

situated in the Marshes which lay between the English pale and the territories of the native Irish. During the centuries since its erection it has undergone many alterations and enlargements down to its final restoration in 1849.

In 1356 Maurice, 4th Earl of Kildare, was commanded by the king to “strengthen and maintain his castles of Kilkea, Rathmore, and Ballymore, under pain of forfeiting the same.” In 1426 the castle was enlarged by John FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Kildare. Again, about the year 1573, Gerald, the 11th Earl, repaired Kilkea after he was restored to the title and estates of which his half-brother, the “Silken Thomas,” had been dispossessed. Three sculptured stones are still in existence belonging to a chimney-piece placed in the dining-hall by this Earl, and have, after various vicissitudes, been replaced in somewhat their original positions.

This Earl was called the “Wizard Earl,” and the haunted room of the castle (which also contains a carved stone) is said to have been the place where he practised the Black Art. A legend regarding him runs thus:—His wife, not liking that he should have any secrets from her, begged him to let her be witness to some of his transformations and sorcery. At length he consented to give her three trials, but warned her that any sign of fear on her part would be fatal to him. First, the river Greese rose and flowed through the castle; secondly, an animal, half fish, half serpent, crept out of the water and twined round the lady’s feet; and thirdly, a ghost flitted to and fro, but all these failed to frighten the Countess. Then the Earl was transformed into a little black bird, which lit on her shoulder; but the devil, in the form of a cat, springing at it, she stretched forth her hand with a cry to protect her lord. Hence he and all his knights were spirited away to the Rath of Mullaghmast, where they sleep by their horses’ sides, fully clad in armour, and from thence they ride to Kilkea Castle every seven years. The Earl’s steed is shod with silver shoes, and as soon as they are worn out the spell will be broken, and he will return again to Kilkea, when, after about half a century, he will drive the ancient enemies of Ireland out of the country.

A lady writing of the castle in 1817, mentions the grand staircase being of massy oak, and amongst other things speaks of the ancient kitchen containing seven ovens. The building seems to have been somewhat dilapidated when the 3rd Duke of Leinster began to restore it (1849). Nearly all the battlements were thrown down, and its last tenant had made matters worse in searching for treasure. This same man, writing to the Duke in 1839, speaks of a carved oak ceiling in what had once been the castle chapel. This is said to have been on the north side.

During restoration a few quaint-shaped bottles containing liquid were found in a recess, and previously it is stated that an old gentleman sitting at a table, had been discovered built up in some part of the walls, but that he fell to dust at once when air was admitted.

Two underground passages are believed to connect the castle with the churchyard on the one hand, and a pagan tumulus or burial moat on the other.

The grooves of the portcullis by which the main entrance was protected are to be seen at the hall-door, and also the square holes for fixing beams of timber, which added to the security. The hall had a stone vaulted ceiling at the time of restoration, which was removed to give greater height. A new storey was also added to the building at this time.

The “Evil Eye Stone” is carved with a group of grotesque figures, and is situated 17 feet above the ground, in the quoin of the “Guard Room,” near the entrance-gate of the ancient bawn of the castle.

Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Baron of Offaly, seems to have parted temporarily with his interest in Kilkea to Christiana de Marisco, a niece of his wife’s, through whom a royal claim on the manor was established. In 1317 it appears to have been in possession of the Wogan family. Sir Thomas de Rokeby, Lord Justice of Ireland, died in the castle in 1356.

In 1414, the O’Mores and O’Dempseys, having invaded the pale, Thomas Cranly, Archbishop of Dublin, and Lord Deputy, accompanied the Royal troops as far as Castledermot, where he and his clergy remained praying for the success of the arms. The opposing forces met at Kilkea, where a battle was fought, in which the Irish were defeated. A great many human bones having been found in a field south of the castle, it is likely to have been the scene of this conflict.

John FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Kildare, nicknamed “Shaun Cam,” or Hump-back John, again defeated the native Irish at Kilkea in 1421.

It was here, too, that the “Great Earl,” Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and Lord Deputy of Ireland, got his death wound. In August, 1513, he started on an expedition against a castle belonging to the O’Carrolls, and now known as Leap Castle, in the King’s County. While the Earl was watering his horse at the River Greese, near Kilkea, attended by the Mayor of Dublin and a splendid retinue, he received a wound from one of the O’Mores of Leix, which in a few days proved fatal. He was moved by gentle stages to Kildare, where he died. He was thirty-three years Chief Governor of Ireland.

During the rebellion of the “Silken Thomas,” 10th Earl of Kildare, in 1535, Kilkea seems at first to have formed one of the headquarters of his native sympathisers. The surrounding country having, however, been laid waste by the Earl of Ossory, we read that he made an appointment with Sir William Skeffington, the Lord Deputy, to meet him at Kilkea. He waited with his army for three days, but the Lord Deputy being ill, he did not arrive.

In 1537 the King appointed Lord (James) Butler to be Constable of the Castles of Catherlagh (Carlow) and Kilkea. Some years later a Walter Peppard, one of the gentlemen ushers of the King’s chamber, seems to have been in possession of the castle.

The 11th Earl lived largely at Kilkea after the restoration of his title and lands. In 1575, when apprehended on suspicion of treason, one of the charges was that he had interviewed and entertained rebels at Kilkea.

Elizabeth, widow of the 14th Earl of Kildare, was granted the Manors of Kilkea and Graney by the King, as she had no jointure. She was a daughter of Lord Delvin, and had married the Earl by dispensation of the Pope, she being a Roman Catholic. In 1618 she wrote a most touching letter from Kilkea to the Privy Council, beseeching them to allow her the guardianship of her little son Gerald, the 15th Earl—then just over six years old—until he should be older and stronger, urging that he was “the only son of his father.” The infant Earl died some two years later at Maynooth, being succeeded by his cousin George, known as the “Fairy Earl.”

In 1634 the Countess gave Kilkea to the Jesuits, who retained possession of the castle until 1646, in which year the Superior of the Order entertained the Pope’s Nuncio sumptuously at the castle.

During the civil war, which began in 1641, Kilkea was taken and re-taken several times; but on the restoration of peace, both the 16th and 17th Earls seem chiefly to have resided there.

In 1668 it was leased to Lord Brabazon, and afterwards, for nearly two centuries, the castle was inhabited by strangers, to whom it was let at different times.

In 1797 it passed into the hands of Thomas Reynolds, the ’98 informer through the influence of Lord Edward FitzGerald. He somewhat repaired and furnished the castle. His son gives a graphic description of the wanton destruction of property by the soldiers sent from Dublin to arrest his father. It appears they tore up floors and down wainscotting, in a search for Lord Edward, who it was thought was hidden in the castle.

Shortly after this it became a regular garrison and a refuge for the Loyalists. It was attacked by the insurgents without success.

The castle was leased once more, in 1799, before the family again took possession of their ancient home.