What is recorded here

Castle (in ruins), Lacken (crannagh By.) stands as a sod-covered rectangle in Kilkenny pasture, its limestone bones scattered near the eastern edge after centuries of neglect. Henry Archer lost the ancient manor in 1653, yet the broad shadow of that forgotten conflict still lies across the grass. The marshy ground beside the ruins suggests water once guarded what ambition built, while the missing walls remind us that even stone submits to time and changing borders.

On a gentle SW-facing slope in undulating pasture with a marshy area in the immediate vicinity. Indicated on the Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of ‘The Liberties of the Citty of Kilkenny’ and on the Down Survey parish map ‘Canice in the Liberties of the Citty of Kilkenny’ as a tower house like castle (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin). The terrier accompanying the parish map lists 'Henry Archer I[rish] P[apist]' as the proprietor in 1640 (ibid.). The castle is depicted in the 17th-century townland of Capaghmore. According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 198), 'Cappagh, otherwise Cappaghmore, otherwise Cappanagearagh, was forfeited by Henry Archer, Irish Papist, in 1653. Cappagh was an ancient manor to which Newtown, and Fowlingrath, now Holdensrath are mentioned as belonging. There was a castle here, of which some traces still remain'. On the 1st (1839-40) ed. OS 6-inch map the castle is indicated in Cappagh townland, subsequently the townland boundary was redrawn and by the 1945-6 revision of the OS 6-inch map the castle is in Lacken townland. The castle was located centrally within a rectangular bawn (KK019-001002-). The remains now consist of an uneven, raised, sod-covered rectangular area (24m NW-SE x 22m NE-SW). Remnants of masonry, composed of limestone rubble and mortar, have been removed to the E corner of the moated site. See attached: KK019-001001-_01 extract from Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of ‘The Liberties of the Citty of Kilkenny’ (Hib. Reg., courtesy of Trinity College Dublin) KK019-0001002-_02 extract from Down Survey (1655-6) parish map ‘Canice in the Liberties of the Citty of Kilkenny’ (Hib. Reg., courtesy of Trinity College Dublin) Compiled by: Jean Farrelly and Mary Tunney Date of revised upload: 15 September 2020

Built by the Butler family in the late 12th or early 13th century, Lacken Castle is significant for its association with one of Ireland's most prominent medieval families and its representation on the Down Survey maps from the mid-17th century.

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