Ireland · Still standing
Ardee Castle
Ardee Castle (St. Leger's Castle) is a large fortified medieval tower house in Ardee, County Louth, Ireland, built in the 15th century on the site of earlier walls. The rectangular, four-storey stone building has corner turrets, a battlemented parapet and a projecting machicolation over the main entrance; it remained in continuous use into the 21st century.
Its prime
1500
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1500
What Ardee Castle looked like in its prime.
Rectangular four-storey tower house of rough grey limestone with a crenellated parapet and pronounced north-west and south-west angle turrets; the roofline is a continuous battlement walk between the corner towers. A square machicolation projects above the original main entrance. Ground floor has a rounded barrel vault (internal) and many windows were later replaced, though a twin-light ogee-arched ground window and narrow looped openings survive at the top floor. The building sits directly on Castle Street beside modern houses.
Its story
The story of Ardee Castle.
Ardee Castle — also known as St. Leger's Castle — is the largest fortified medieval tower house in Ireland or Britain. A castle was originally built here by Roger de Peppard in 1207, though not much is left of the original walls; the present rectangular four-storey building dates from the fifteenth century and served as a stronghold for the defence of the Pale.
Turrets stand at the north-west and south-west angles, and the main entrance was protected by a machicolation on the outside and a "murder-hole" within. The ground floor carries a rounded barrel vault, a stairway in the north-west turret climbs to the upper storeys, and a twin-light ogee-arched window survives at ground level.
The tower never fell out of use: it served as a prison during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and then as Ardee's district courthouse until June 2006, when a specialised facility finally took its place. That continuous use means most of the windows have been replaced and modernised over time.
Step inside
8 places to explore in 1500.
The record describes 8 distinct spots at Ardee Castle — including 3 interiors: entrance passage (murder-hole), ground-floor barrel-vaulted chamber, north-west turret stairway. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Create History
Recreate Ardee Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1500 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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