What is recorded here

Tankardstown held two castles built to command the River Barrow, but neither wall nor tower remains visible today. The land has swallowed their anger and purpose, leaving only a church ruin, a graveyard and St. Thomas' Well to mark the place where human hands once tried to control the water's passage.

Marked on the 1841 and 1909 editions of the OS 6-inch maps. In undulating countryside. No visible surface remains. Described in the History of the Queens Count as 'An old castle (LA026-009001-) and a church (LA026-009004-), with some ruined houses, are marked in Tankardstown Parish, on Sir William Petty's Maps. Within the large townland of Tankardstown, Queen's County, on the west side of the River Barrow, are to be seen the old church, at present in ruins, and within a graveyard (LA026-009003-). Near it is St. Thomas' Well (LA026-009002-). On the north side of it the site of a castle is to be found while about one quarter of a mile to the south, the site of another castle (LA026-010----) may be traced; both of these former erections seem to have been intended to command the passage over the River Barrow' (O'Hanlon and O'Leary 1907, vol. 1, 336). 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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