What is recorded here

Roger le Bigod held a ruinous tower and a wooden grange at Ballysax in 1307, yet a castle still stood there when an Inquisition met at Naas in 1542. The precise location remains unknown, though it may have risen beside a possible motte. That gap between a crumbling tower and a named castle suggests the land kept giving back strength long after first recording its weakness.

OMURETHI (1909-11, 96) quotes from an Inquisition taken at Carlow in 1307 that Roger le Bigod held, 'At Ballysax, a tower in bad condition and ruinous, and a small, wooden grange, covered with straw ...'. He also quotes from a later Inquisition taken at Naas in 1542 ( ibid. 97) which refers to a castle in Ballysax. The precise location of the castle is unknown, but it may have stood on or in the vicinity of a possible motte (KD028-031----). Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 13 February 2013

Roger le Bigod held a tower and small grange at Ballysax in 1307; the site is remembered for its mention in medieval inquisition records, reflecting Anglo-Norman landholdings in Ireland.

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