Ireland · Ruin
Carbury Castle
Carbury Castle is a hilltop castle on Carbury Hill near the Kildare–Offaly border in Ireland. The site combines an earlier medieval motte and curtain walls with a large 17th‑century Colley stronghouse; today the hill retains ruined stone walls and chimney stacks visible across the plain.
First raised
1220
Its prime
1650
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1650
What Carbury Castle looked like in its prime.
Sits atop a rounded grassy hill, the complex in its prime read as a connected medieval curtain and a rectangular multi‑storey Tudor stronghouse of pale grey rubble and ashlar stone. The stronghouse has steep gabled roofs and several tall red‑brick chimney stacks rising above the roofline; older curtain walls and a cylindrical tower fragment adjoin it. Window openings are regularly spaced in stone surrounds. The whole group dominates the surrounding flat farmland from its elevated motte and hilltop plateau.
Its story
The story of Carbury Castle.
Carbury Castle crowns Carbury Hill near the border of County Kildare and County Offaly. It was built in the 13th century by Pierce St. Leger, on a hill whose Norman motte was probably raised by Meiler FitzHenry, who had been granted the area by Strongbow.
The de Berminghams acquired Carbury in the 14th century and occupied it for some two centuries; it passed by inheritance to the Preston family, Barons Gormanston, before being taken by the native Irish in the 15th century. John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, later also Earl of Wexford and Waterford, rebuilt the castle in the years after 1429.
From 23 October 1554 a 21-year lease, later renewed, was granted to Sir Henry Colley, patrilineal ancestor of the Dukes of Wellington, and the Colleys, ancestors of the Wellesleys, built a large stronghouse on the hilltop in the 17th century. It is that house whose ruined stone walls and chimney stacks now stand visible across the plain.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1650.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Carbury Castle, including 1 interior: great hall of the colley stronghouse. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Recreate Carbury Castle with AI to explore it.
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Clans who held Carbury Castle.
The families that held Carbury Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Bermingham
Acquired by the de Berminghams in the 14th century; they occupied the castle for some two centuries.
Preston
Passed by inheritance to the Prestons, Barons Gormanston, before the native Irish took the castle in the 15th century.
Colley
Leased to Sir Henry Colley from 1554 and renewed; the Colleys built the great 17th-century stronghouse on the hilltop.
