Lea Castle
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Lea Castle | |
---|---|
County Laois, Leinster, Ireland | |
![]() | |
Coordinates | 53°09′22″N 7°08′50″W / 53.15611°N 7.14722°W |
Type | motte-and-bailey castle |
Lea Castle is a ruined medieval castle near Portarlington, County Laois. A timber castle was built in the late 12th or early 13th century and replaced by a later stone castle.[1] The remains of the castle mostly date to the 13th century and consist of a four-storey donjon and a gatehouse.[2]
The castle was the property of the FitzGerald family, who held the title Earl of Kildare from 1316. The FitzGeralds in the 1290s clashed fiercely with the powerful Richard de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster, and in 1294–5 they held him prisoner in Lea Castle for several months, until Parliament secured his release.[3]
References
- ^ O'Conor 1999, p. 186.
- ^ Dempsey 2016, p. 238.
- ^ Otway-Ruthven 1993, p. 211.
Bibliography
- Dempsey, Karen (2016), "Lea Castle, Co. Laois: the story so far", The Castle Studies Group Journal, 30: 237–252
- O'Conor, Kieran (1999), "Anglo-Norman castles in Co. Laois", Laois, History and Society, Geography Publications, pp. 183–212
- Otway-Ruthven, Annette J. (1993), A History of Medieval Ireland (reprint ed.), New York: Barnes and Noble
External link
Categories:
- Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
- Articles with short description
- Short description is different from Wikidata
- Use dmy dates from December 2020
- Use Hiberno-English from December 2020
- All Wikipedia articles written in Hiberno-English
- Coordinates on Wikidata
- Castles in County Laois
- Norman architecture in Ireland