What is recorded here

Killeany Castle was a tower house marked on the 1563 map of Leix and Offaly, sitting low beside a river in County Laois. People lived there until the middle of the eighteenth century, long after many such towers fell silent. One wall stood tall until danger forced men to blow it away, reducing the castle to featureless fragments. What remains is not grand, but it is honest: a place where life continued, changed, and finally broke under its own weight.

Marked on the 1563 map of Leix and Offaly (Hore 1863, f.p. 345). In a low-lying area beside river. Only featureless fragments of masonry remain. Described in 1958 OPW report as a castle which appears to be the remains of a tower house. One wall stood to a considerable height till 22 or 23 years ago when it was blow up as being dangerous. It is said to have been inhabited until about the middle of the eighteenth century. Some cobbling was disclosed in the course of Land project works, presumably representing the yard. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007

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