What is recorded here

Kilkea, a small medieval borough in County Kildare, thrived beside its castle from the early 1200s until it vanished from memory by the 1500s. People likely walked its narrow streets, traded goods, and lived under the castle’s shadow before silence took the town. The castle remained, but the borough dissolved into grass and legend, leaving only a name behind.

The earliest reference to the borough at Kilkea is from 1280, but it was probably in existence from the beginning of the thirteenth century (Sweetman 1875-86, 379, no. 1801). It may not have survived past the fifteenth century, and all sixteenth and seventeenth century references are to the castle and make no mention of the borough itself. It was presumably located in the vicinity of the castle KD022-029045- see Bradley et al. 1986 vol. 3, 266-91. Date of upload: 8 September 2016

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