Kells Castle

Kells Castle
Móta Cheanannais (Irish)
Kells Motte
View of the ruins of the Augustinian Abbey at Kells, County Kilkenny, Ireland with the church on the left of the drawing. Beside the church, on its right, is an area enclosed by a wall interspersed with towers. In the foreground is a bridge with a horseman riding over it towards a small mill-house on the left. To the right of the drawing is a Norman motte
Panorama of Kells in 1794. Motte is visible to the right.
Kells Castle is located in Ireland
Kells Castle
Location within Ireland
52°32′30″N 7°16′23″W / 52.541647°N 7.272985°W / 52.541647; -7.272985
Typemotte
PeriodsNorman Ireland
CulturesCambro-Norman
Associated withNormans
LocationKells Road, Kells,
County Kilkenny, Ireland
RegionKings River Valley
History
Builtlate 12th century
Built byGeoffrey FitzRobert
Site notes
Materialearth
Diameter12 m (39 ft)
Public accessyes
Designations
Designation
Official name
Kells Castle
Reference no.626

Kells Castle or Kells Motte is a motte-and-bailey and National Monument in Kells, County Kilkenny, Ireland.

Location

Kells Castle is located just south of the Kells Bridge which crosses the Kings River, immediately behind Delaney's Bar.

History and archaeology

Motte-and-bailey castles were a primitive type of castle built after the Norman invasion, a mound of earth topped by a wooden palisade and tower. Kells motte was built on a gravel platform (possibly originally an island in the Kings River) by Geoffrey FitzRobert in the late 12th century. It was an important site for extending Norman colonisation and economic exploitation in the region, which was formerly the Gaelic Irish Kingdom of Osraige. It was abandoned by the following century when the focus of the town shifted to the bailey, and later to Kells Priory.

References

  1. ↑ Garry (9 September 2010). "Kells Castles Kilkenny". Retrieved 12 October 2020 – via Flickr.
  2. ↑ "Historic Castles of County Kilkenny Ireland".
  3. ↑ "The mystery of the eyes in Kells Co Kilkenny".
  4. ↑ "Kells Augustinian Priory - Monastic Ireland".
  5. ↑ "Geograph:: Callan Motte (C) dougf". Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  6. ↑ Davies, R. R. (29 June 1990). Domination and Conquest: The Experience of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, 1100-1300. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521380690 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ Barry, T. B.; Culleton, E.; Empey, C. A. (1 January 1984). "Kells Motte, County Kilkenny". Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Section C. 84C: 157–170. JSTOR 25506115.
  8. ↑ "10046 « Excavations".