Site of Eustace Castle — Naas East

According to Bradley et al. (1986 vol. 4, 351), Eustace Castle stood at the N end of Friary Road, opposite John's Lane, and de Burgh (1895, 321) states that it had a barrel vault over the ground floor, which suggests it may have been a tower house. It was demolished in 1973 but one of its walls was still attached to that of a modernised two storey building with gabled roof. In 2002, an archaeological assessment (Licence no. 02E1788: www.excavations.ie) was required for a proposed development on a large site at Poplar Square/Friary Road. Eustace Castle stood at the SW corner of the site, and the presumed line of the town defences (KD019-030001-) runs roughly NW-SE across the E portion of the site. Trenching revealed that, despite much modern disturbance (several previous trenches had been excavated to lay pipes and cables across the area) archaeological deposits survived. One was part of a rubble wall with mortar that had been covered with a layer of cement. Another was a deposit of organic soil with fragments of flat stones, possibly part of an old ground surface. A rubble feature nearby may be the remains of a rubble core for a thick wall, possibly associated with the castle. A possible archaeological layer representing an old surface with patches of cobbling set in an organic layer of dark brown, sandy clay with frequent charcoal flecks was also noted. A partially exposed linear feature of angular stones was also visible directly on top of the cobbling. A thick 'wall feature' was also exposed; it had a thick layer of mortar and red-brick fragments on its upper surface. Cartographic analysis suggests that 19th century buildings existed at this location. The visible part of the walls encountered had the appearance of 18th/19th-century construction. No datable finds were recovered. To the E and NE of the castle, a large ditch was also exposed and was interpreted as forming part of the town defences (KD019-030001-). In 2004, a small area (L 9m; Wth 7m) was archaeologically excavated (O'Carroll 2007. Excavation Licence No: 04E0269) and revealed the partial remains of the E wall of the castle. The wall was orientated N-S, measured 1m in height and ran the length of the area investigated. It was, however, truncated in the centre by a modern service pipe. The S half of the wall measured 2.95m in length and 1.55m in thickness. It was composed of an intact course of large green subrectangular blocks (0.4m by 0.4m by 0.1m) with occasional small angular stones set in between the larger blocks. The N half of the wall was less preserved, with about ten intact blocks. This side measured 3.9m in length and the exposed thickness measured 1.1m. Both portions of the wall were set straight onto a clayey surface, which may not be the natural subsoil. A cobbled surface was also identified in the N side of the area investigated and may be associated with features within the castle walls. The S wall of the castle possibly survives in the adjoining property. The W wall may be located underneath the footpath. The N wall was probably demolished during the construction of Lawlor's Hotel in the last century. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011