What is recorded here

Bishop’s Palace stood immediately north of the cathedral in County Kildare during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The Civil Survey of 1654 still named the field beside it the Bishop’s Field, though no wall, tile or threshold remains visible there now. The palace may have been a fortified house rather than a grand palace, its chambers crowded with clerks, guests and the ordinary noise of a working see. Whatever it contained, the field kept the shape of its absence long after the building disappeared.

According to Bradley et al. (1986 vol. 3, 203-4), there is documentary evidence for the presence of fortified townhouses in Kildare in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, including the ‘Bishop’s Palace’, referred to in the Civil Survey of 1654 (Simmington 1952, 223). It stood immediately to the N of the cathedral, in a field known locally as ‘the Bishop’s Field’ (JKAS 1918-21, 365). No visible surface traces survive. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 8 February 2012

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