Overview
Castlecomer — Castlecomer is recorded as Historic town in Kilkenny. The town is orientated E-W, with houses running N and S from the main street (Bridge/High Street) which widens towards the W end and narrows towards the bridge at the E end which crosses the Dinin river (also known as the river Deen). The river Cloghogue, a tributary of the Dinin, runs E-W N of the town.
Why it was made
The saved account records: The houses were all of free stone very convenient, with a noble Market Place in the Centre…He erected…a forge…[and] from the ground, a very handsome church…a stately house for the minister…a good inn, and erected “on Colliery Hill a pretty convenient castle to protect his steward and colleries from the wild Irish”’.
People and events
The saved account records: However, the strategic location of Castlecomer between Dublin and Kilkenny, combined with its rich natural resources of coal, iron and timber, made it an attractive acquisition and this was achieved in 1635 by Thomas Wentworth, the Lord Deputy of Ireland who confiscated Idough on behalf of the crown (ibid.
How it worked
The saved account records: The town is orientated E-W, with houses running N and S from the main street (Bridge/High Street) which widens towards the W end and narrows towards the bridge at the E end which crosses the Dinin river (also known as the river Deen).
What remains
The saved account records: The river Cloghogue, a tributary of the Dinin, runs E-W N of the town.
Why it mattered
Castlecomer — Castlecomer matters because a real conflict, loss or destructive event is tied to this exact place. The source records: During the 1798 rebellion the United Irishmen fought the Crown Forces in the ‘Battle of Comer’, as a result of which the town and the original Wandesforde residence, Castlecomer House, was burnt (ibid. It shows how a wider struggle reached the local landscape and the people using it.
History checked 15 August 2026 against the named sources below.
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