Lea Castle
Ruined medieval castle of the FitzGeralds, site of sieges and imprisonment.
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Where it is
Coordinates: 53°09′22″N 7°08′49″W (53.1560, -7.1470) · Open in OpenStreetMap
Coordinates and connected clubs: the infobox of Wikipedia: Lea Castle (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map: drawn by Codexery from OpenStreetMap tiles.
Lea Castle is a ruined medieval castle located near Portarlington, County Laois, on the south bank of the River Barrow. Its remains mostly date to the 13th century and consist of a four-storey donjon and a gatehouse. The castle was the property of the FitzGerald family, who held the title Earl of Kildare from 1316, and was the site of notable conflicts in medieval Ireland.
Quick Facts
- Location
- County Laois, Leinster, Ireland
Facts from the source article.
Background
A timber castle was built in the late 12th or early 13th century and later replaced by a stone castle. The FitzGeralds clashed fiercely with Richard de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster, in the 1290s, but contrary to earlier claims, de Burgh was not held prisoner at Lea Castle in 1294–5; he was imprisoned at Maynooth Castle or another Fitzgerald stronghold in Kildare. The castle was besieged in 1307. The O'Dempseys captured it in February 1330, and the recapture was carried out by the justiciar or local forces, not by Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond.
Following the death of justiciar Ralph de Ufford in 1346, claims that Lea was destroyed by the O'More, O'Connor Faly, and O'Dempsey families are unsubstantiated; reliable sources do not record such destruction that year. It was again captured in 1452. In 1650 the donjon was partly blown up and left as a ruin.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Lea Castle (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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