What is recorded here

Dysart Castle belonged to the O'Lalor family before Queen Elizabeth granted it to John Piggott in 1577, but Colonel Farrell and Colonel Roger McGuire's regiments took it by force in 1646 and killed Pigott. Only a northeast angle tower of limestone rubble remains, marking the exact spot where a living house once stood. The missing walls do not hide the violence; they invite imagination of the people who flew ladders, broke doors and fled into the dark.

Marked on the 1563 map of Leix and Offaly (Hore 1863, f.p. 345). Originally belonging to the O'Lalor family (O'Hanlon and O'Leary, 1914, vol. 2, 524), this castle was granted to John Piggott in 1577 by Queen Elizabeth (Comerford 1886, vol. 3, 276-278). In 1646 Dysart was taken by force, and Pigott was killed by Colonel Farrell and Colonel Roger McGuire's regiments (O'Hanlon and O'Leary 1914, vol. 2, 524, 525). Standing remains consist of a NE angle tower of curtain wall built of limestone rubble. No other visible surface remains. 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

Originally held by the O'Lalor family before being granted to John Piggott in 1577 by Queen Elizabeth I, Piggotts Castle is remembered as part of the English colonial efforts in the 16th century to consolidate control in the Dysart area. Its presence on the 1563 map highlights its strategic or administrative significance in the region.

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