Castlewarden () is a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

, monastic site and former parish situated between

Ardclough Ardclough, officially Ardclogh (; ), is a village and community in the parish of Kill, County Kildare, Ireland. It is two miles (3 km) off the N7 national primary road. It is the burial place and probable birthplace of Arthur Guinness, wh ...

and

Kill, County Kildare Kill () is a village and parish in County Kildare, Ireland near the county's border with Dublin beside the N7. Its population was recorded as 3,348 people in the 2016 census. Kill is the birthplace of the Fenian John Devoy as well as home to ...

just off the N7 in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The district is home to a golf club and a riding school today.

Etymology and history

After the Anglo-Norman invasion some time before 1173, Leinster was inherited by Strongbow Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare "Strongbow", 2nd Earl of Pembroke, through his marriage to

Aoife of Leinster Aoife MacMurrough (c. 1145 – 1188, ga, Aoife Ní Diarmait), also known by later historians as Eva of Leinster, was an Irish noblewoman, Princess of Leinster and Countess of Pembroke. She was the daughter of Dermot MacMurrough (c. 1110 – 117 ...

, daughter of

Diarmait MacMurrough Diarmait Mac Murchada ( Modern Irish: Diarmaid Mac Murchadha), anglicised as Dermot MacMurrough, Dermod MacMurrough, or Dermot MacMorrogh (c. 1110 – c. 1 May 1171), was a King of Leinster in Ireland. In 1167, he was deposed by the High K ...

, one of the

Kings of Leinster Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

. The name Castlewarden appears to be derived from Warinus, Abbott of St Thomas’ Abbey in 1268 - Castellum Warin (Latin). Adam de Hereford had bestowed the lands on the Abbey of St Thomas, along with Wochtred (

Oughter Ard Oughterard (, “a high place”) is an ecclesiastical hilltop site, graveyard, townland, and formerly a parish, borough and royal manor in County Kildare, nowadays part of the community of Ardclough, close to the Dublin border. It is the burial ...

) after being given large territories of land by Strongow. In 1377 John Leche, nephew of Ewa de L’Leche, wife of Hugh de Warin, and physician to Edward III, was grantee by patent of Castle Warin and other lands in Kildare. He was a son of John Leche of Ghattisworth, esq. and Lucy de L’Leche. The church was vacated by the early 17th century. The castle remained in good repair until the 18th century.

Landmarks

Castlewarden House (which now forms the main building of Castlewarden Golf Club), a medieval earthwork complex, a motte and bailey, and a rectangular enclosure are all listed monuments under the Kildare development plan. The earliest evidence of human habitation in the area was the discovery of a flint dated to 4800-3600BC, at Castlewarden below

Hill, a rare find on a dryland location. Castlewarden hill is an ancient site associated with the 10 Uí Dúnchada

kings of Leinster Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

between 750 and 1050, whose inauguration took place on nearby

Lyons Hill Lyons Hill or Lyons () is a townland and restored village in County Kildare. At a time when canal passenger boats travelled at Lyons was the nearest overnight stop to Dublin on the Grand Canal. On the hilltop is a trigonometrical point used ...

Calendar and civil paper references

Stephen Creman was Vicar of Uachtar Árd and Castlewarden in 1541, where the church chancel was said to be "in need of repair."The church had disappeared by the early 17th century although the site and that of a holy well can still be identified. The Castle was burned by order of LJs William Parsons and John Borlase in 1641.

References

{{Reflist

Bibliography

*Ardclough Churches 1985 Souvenir Brochure. * Corry, Eoghan and Tancred, Jim: Annals of Ardclough (Ardclough GAA 2004). *Journals of the Kildare Archaeological Society: Volume I : 197. Volume IV : 255. Volume VI : 448. Volume XII : 340. *Margaret Gowen & Co Ltd (Jackie Jordan), Architectural Assessment of Castlewarden Golf Club, 2002

External links

* http://castlewardengolfclub.com * https://archive.org/stream/genealogicaldata00mann/genealogicaldata00mann_djvu.txt Townlands of County Kildare Towns and villages in County Kildare Articles on towns and villages in Ireland possibly missing Irish place names