What is recorded here

Archersleas still hides the ruined stone house marked on the Down Survey, beside a good orchard in the southeast of the townland. Henry Archer may have lived there before loss or surrender changed the place, but the castle has slipped from the visible field. What remains is a gap shaped like a building: walls absent, identity preserved, and the land remembering more than it shows.

Indicated on the Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of ‘The Liberties of the Citty of Kilkenny’ and on the Down Survey parish map of ‘St Patrick’s Parish’ as a tower house like castle in the SE portion of the townland of Archers Lease which equates quite well with the modern townland of Archersleas (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin). The terrier accompanying the parish map describes, 'In Archers Lease a good orchard & a Stone House ruined' and the proprietor in 1640 is listed as 'Henry Archer I[rish] P[apist]'. The castle, or stone house, is unlocated within Archersleas townland. See attached: KK019-079----_01 extract from Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of ‘The Liberties of the Citty of Kilkenny’ (Hib. Reg., courtesy of Trinity College Dublin) KK019-079----_02 extract from Down Survey (1655-6) parish map of ‘St Patrick’s Parish’ (Hib. Reg., courtesy of Trinity College Dublin) Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 13 October 2020

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.