Ashtown Castle

Ashtown Castle (Irish: Caisleán Bhaile an Ásaigh) is a tower house in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, Ireland.

It was found hidden within the walls of a much larger and more recent Georgian building, the Under Secretary's Lodge also known as Ashtown Lodge, that was being used by the Papal Nuncio until 1978. At that time, the Lodge was deemed structurally irreparable due to dry rot. However, as the building was being demolished, Ashtown Castle was discovered. It has now been restored and forms part of the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre.

It is thought to originally date from the 1430s, as it is built to dimensions that conform with a government policy of the time that offered £10 to those who built a castle for their own safety. The castle was later incorporated into the construction of Ashtown Lodge which was to serve as the official residence of the Under Secretary from 1782.

Text adapted from “Ashtown Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ashtown Castle ranks #2,450 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #34 of the 172 mapped in Ireland. Founded 1430, it is older than 51% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 434 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. 19 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Dublin, 5 km away. See how Ireland compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗