Tallaght Castle (also known as Tallaght House and formerly known as the Archiepiscopal Palace) was a castle in Kilnamanagh,

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County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

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 ...

. It dates from the 14th Century. It became an official residence of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

Archbishop of Dublin until 1822. It was taken over by the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

in 1856. The castle is now in ruins with only a small proportion of it incorporated into the St. Mary's Priory building, in the grounds of St. Mary's Dominican Priory and

the Priory Institute The Priory Institute, is part of the St. Mary's Dominican Priory on the grounds of the old Tallaght Castle, Dublin 24, Ireland and provides, certificate, diploma, and degree programmes in theology and philosophy. Course accreditation In 2011 ...

The old palace gardens, Archbishop’s bathhouse, the Friar's Walk and St. Maelruain's Tree still remain in the current grounds.

Development

Tallaght village was first walled in about 1310. As ordered by Archbishop

Alexander de Bicknor Alexander de Bicknor (1260s? – 14 July 1349; usually spelt "Bykenore" in original Middle English sources) was an official in the Plantagenet kingdom under Edward I of England, Edward II of England, and Edward III of England. Best known to histor ...

the initial castle was built between 1324 and the 1340s, to defend the town. The original castle is thought to have comprised high walls with a courtyard in the centre. It was in a bad condition a century later. In the mid 1400s, improvements were made by Archbishop Michael Tregury, leading to an increase in usage by subsequent Archbishops. Members of Archbishop Loftus's family were killed at the gates of the castle in the 1570s. Archbishop

John Hoadly John Hoadly (27 September 1678 - 19 July 1746) was an Anglican divine in the Church of Ireland. He served as Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin (1727 to 1730), as Archbishop of Dublin (1730 to 1742), and as Archbishop of Armagh from 1742 until hi ...

built a palace on the remains from 1727 to 1729 at a cost of £2,500. The grounds had a brewery and a granary and stables. By 1760 some of the buildings had become 'dilapidated'. In 1821, an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

, was passed which stated that it was unfit for habitation. In 1822 the property was sold to Major Palmer, Inspector General of Prisons, who pulled most of the palace down and used the materials to build his mansion, 'Tallaght House', as well as a schoolhouse and several cottages. A tower from the original castle was left untouched and later was incorporated in the current priory building. The once four-storey-high tower now has just internally two. Major Palmer later sold the mansion and lands to his successor as Inspector of Prisons, Mr. Lentaigne. When the Dominican friars took a lease out on the property in the 1840s, one of the buildings was converted into a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

. The friars eventually bought the property from Mr. Lentaigne in 1855. The chapel was replaced with a purpose built

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

, dedicated to Fr. Tom Burke, in 1883. Part of the house burned down in the first decade of the 1900s.

References

{{Historic Irish houses Castles in South Dublin (county) Ruined castles in Ireland Anglican archbishops of Dublin Ruins in the Republic of Ireland Former official residences in the Republic of Ireland Tallaght