I first came across this site in 2013 as I had heard there was both a church and a castle ruin. All I could locate at the time amongst the trees and wild overgrowth was a partial wall and window. I could not see any part of the castle tower. A bit despondent I left but found myself in the vicinity again recently so I decided to have another look.
The town land on which this ancient graveyard is located is
called Whitechurch and it was the site of a monastery in 1300 founded by the
white friars hence the origin of the name. The present ruins may or may not
have formed part of the monastery but it was certainly used as a parish church
until the early seventeenth century where thereafter it fell into ruin. Not
much is known of the strong tower that was built here but it most certainly of
Norman origin and appears to be placed in close proximity to the church and may
not have been a castle as such but have served as a fortified refuge for the
clergy..
After crossing the two stiles from the roadside I found
myself back at the graveyard. In general it appears to be maintained well and
contains a lot of jagged ancient stones. On this occasion I got to see what
remains of the church as the overgrowth had receded a little or was cut back. Still
standing are the West wall and south gable. The west wall is crumbling and
contains the remains of a window and doorway. Within, the ground is badly
overgrown and there is the remains of an old font amongst the vegetation. The
South gable fares better and has a nice window mostly intact. Having viewed the
ruins I scoured the area to locate the castle tower. It turns out to be
approximately where the North gable would have stood. A lot of overgrowth hides
it from view but I could partially see a section higher up. I then spotted at ground level part of the West wall and a small
doorway. I broke away some of the dried branch twigs that occluded the entrance
and had to climb over a small fallen tree trunk. Within, ivy was curling about
but there was a narrow set of stone steps spiralling upward. I managed to get
inside the doorway and carefully ascended the steps which were coated in lichen
managing to reach a flat area that must have been the first floor. The stairway
was really narrow and the steps badly worn but I at least got part ways into
the interior. I figured there wasn’t much likelihood of any further steps as I
could see daylight above. It really is very hard to discern what is left of the
tower but I’m glad I at least got inside.
The site of the ruins is to the side of a narrow country
road where passing traffic is frequent as it leads to Straffan and back to the
N4. Also there are almost no places to safely park. I managed after a few
drives up and down the stretch of road to eventually tuck the car in on a very
small grass verge a few yards North of the entrance stile.
To find the ruins take the N4 heading West and exit at
junction 7 signposted for Straffan. At the top of the exit ramp circle the
roundabout and cross the bridge over the N4 and on the roundabout on the other
side take the first exit again signposted for Straffan. Continue down this road
and turn right at the next roundabout onto Straffan road. Continue driving on
this road for approx. 4.5km until you have crossed over two hump back bridges
(one the canal the other the rail line) Approx 250m after the second bridge
look carefully for the gate and stile in the hedgerows on your right. As mentioned parking
is difficult but there is a small grass verge just past the entrance on the
same side which may be your best bet.
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