A medieval castle, long believed lost to history, has been dramatically rediscovered thriving within the walls of a Victorian-era building on University College Dublin’s campus. Professor Tadhg O’Keeffe, a specialist in medieval castle architecture, identified substantial portions of the 13th-century Roebuck Castle, comprising an estimated 70-80% of the original structure, concealed beneath Victorian plaster and modern alterations. O’Keeffe’s investigation, prompted by 18th-century watercolors, revealed telltale signs of the castle’s past, including unusually thick walls, a stone vault, an arched stone roof, a clear gate tower on the interior, splayed windows indicative of medieval construction, and remnants of its original stonework. This ‘lost’ castle, which once housed significant figures like the medieval equivalent of Ireland’s chief justice and briefly King James II, had fallen into ruin by the 18th century and was subsequently incorporated into a residence that underwent extensive renovations, most notably a Victorian makeover in 1874, before UCD acquired the property in 1986. The preservation, while unintentional, highlights the possibility that numerous other presumed-lost castles across Ireland may still exist, hidden within later constructions, urging a re-examination of structures previously dismissed as gone.
Adapted from: Travel News Today on Fox News
