Kells Castle

Kells Castle
Móta Cheanannais

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.
Shown within Ireland
Alternate name Kells Motte
Location Kells Road, Kells,
County Kilkenny, Ireland
Region Kings River Valley
Coordinates 52°32′30″N 7°16′23″W / 52.541647°N 7.272985°W / 52.541647; -7.272985Coordinates: 52°32′30″N 7°16′23″W / 52.541647°N 7.272985°W / 52.541647; -7.272985
Type motte
Diameter 12 m (39 ft)
History
Builder Geoffrey FitzRobert
Material earth
Founded late 12th century
Periods Norman Ireland
Cultures Cambro-Norman
Associated with Normans
Site notes
Public access yes
Designation
Designations
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.[1][2]

Location

Kells Castle is located just south of the Kells Bridge which crosses the Kings River, immediately behind Delaney's Bar.[3][4]

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.[5] 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.[6] It was abandoned by the following century when the focus of the town shifted to the bailey, and later to Kells Priory.[7][8]

References

  1. ↑ "Kells Castles Kilkenny".
  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 – 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: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature. 84C: 157–170. JSTOR 25506115.
  8. ↑ "10046 « Excavations".
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