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Kilkea Castle was built in
1180 and is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Ireland.
The immediate builder and the first occupier was one Sir Walter
de Riddlesford, a young knight who had accompanied the first
invasion party of Anglo/Normans in 1170. From his name he was
probably of Anglo/Saxon, rather than Norman stock, but was reputed
to be a relation of the King's. Apart from building Kilkea. however,
he played no other prominent part in history and the family in
fact died out in the third generation.
The pattern of life which centered
around the Castle was very much the same as everywhere else in
Ireland, namely recurrent war, usually local for summer time
soldiers only, but periodically on a national scale. Because
of war time conditions, the records are very inadequate; perhaps
this is just as well as the story is sadly monotonous. One example
may suffice. In the year 1414 news came to Dublin that the tribes
of Leinster had broken in to besiege Kilkea and threaten Castledermot
The Archbishop of Dublin, Thomas Cranley, combined his sacred
office with that of Lord Deputy or Chief Governor and also Chief
Justice. He rapidly raised an army and took the field as Commander
in Chief in person. Arriving at Castledermot he then handed over
to a field commander and retired to the Abbey of the Crouched
Friars where the community he marched in procession around the
grounds and offered prayers for the success of the cause. Their
prayers were answered. The O'Mores and other enemies were defeated
with the loss of a hundred men and the army withdrew victorious.
This is typical of the kind of event which went on recurring
for some four hundred years. The then earl of Kildare showed
no gratitude for this service, but took care not to let it happen
again; in 1421 when another attack developed, he settled the
matter in person. These battles against the free Irish, coupled
with a hot-blooded feud against Butler of Ormond, and the cost
of modernising Kilkea and Maynooth Castles, seem to have temporarily
improvished the family. About this time , there is a record that
the Earl (Or his son) was left off a heavy fine imposed on him
for breaches of the peace, on account of 'his gentle blood and
no small poverty'.
The troubles of 1919-1923 broke
up the ducal family, as indeed they broke up the whole state
of society which these represented. The 7th Duke, alienated the
Carton estate to an English tailor for £1,300 a year. In
1973 he was still alive and not long before that it had been
announced that the annuity constituted his sole income. Some
members of the family still clung on, in particular his uncle
Lord Walter Fitzgerald and the unmarried aunts. One aunt, Lady
Nesta, even attempted to continue at Carton, living in the Stables,
where she is believed to have given shelter to I.R.A. men on
the run. She had to give up, and retired also to Kilkea where
Lord Walter had been living since 1899. Much of the contents
of the Carton were sold by auction for a song, as might be expected
in the prevailing circumstances of civil war.
Lord Walter a special mention.
He served as an Army Officer, but retired in 1899, aged 31, to
live at Kilkea for the rest of his life. Here he became the best
known antiquarian scholar in Ireland. He was the leading spirit
behind the foundation of the County Kildare Archaeological Society
and acted as both Secretary and Editor of the journal. His specialization
was in his own county and he knew every inch of it. There were
times when four fifths of the contents of the Journal were in
his hand. For nearly all period, his only means of transportation
were by train and bicycle.
His appearance exactly matched
the role. In shape, short and squat, with a countryman's complexion
and drooping gold rimmed spectacles pinched on the bridge of
his nose. His clothing was usually green, -cloth cap, Norfolk
jacket, knickerbockers and thick woollen stockings. He liked
in initiate a conversation in Irish, then reverting into English
with a strong Irish accent. Only when excited, as for example
in an archaeological discussion, would he revert to the precise
English accent of his military training. In old age, Lord Walter
exactly resembled an up to fate version of Mr. Pickwick, who
himself had started the Pickwick Club as an Archaeological Society
round Highgate, Brixton and Camberwall, had traced to their source
the ponds of Hampstead and agitated the world with his theory
of titlebats. Of course there were many anecdotes about Lord
Walter, now known only to a few, but there is hardly space in
this account to repeat such frivolities. He died, aged 65, in
1923, at the height of the Civil War.
Fifty years later, his name
is probably remembered only by antiquarians, but it is worthy
of being remembered, for he loved his country as well as his
county. His task was, not merely to preserve antiquities at a
time when they were being abandoned or burnt, but also to inject
truth into the clouds of legend, often spiteful, which invested
popular historical tradition. If any time visitors to Kilkea
castle should happen to see a ghost, they should hope it will
be Lord Walter on his green bicycle, rather than the Wizard Earl
on his white charger.
The sisters survived him at
Kilkea and they were buried beside his grave. After World War
II the house was occupied by the Marquess of Kildare. In about
1960 he went to live permanently in England, where his professional
employment lay; with him went the rest of the family possessions
which had survived the former debacle. The land was taken by
the Land Commission and divided up. The Castle was sold to Lord
Brocket, who soon after sold again to speculator, who cut sown
the mature trees. There was a story then, and still current,
that the new owner also intended to demolish the Castle, -a feat
which not even Cromwell had successfully achieved, but this may
be only pious legend. In 1965, the Castle was acquired by Mr.William
Cade.
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