Hope to turn Kildare site into 'mini Kilkenny Castle'
St David's Castle
A PAIR of local historians have said that a refurbished St David’s Castle in Naas could be “a miniature Kilkenny Castle” for the town.
Larry and Anne Breen – the former a published author on Naas history, and the latter a local county councillor – released a joint statement following the news last month the Kildare County Council has acquired the 800-year-old Castle for the public.
“The recent news about Kildare County Council’s purchase of St David’s Castle was welcome news to everyone,” they said.
“Without exaggeration it could be a miniature Kilkenny Castle, albeit on a smaller scale.
“Other examples of similar successful developments are Barryscourt Castle in Co Cork and the Clondalkin Round Tower Project in Dublin.
“Both having regenerated local heritage into viable business ventures, and this approach would create huge potential for developing and attracting tourism into the town.
“Remember Kildare does not have a County Museum unlike many other counties who do, so now could be the time to correct this serious omission.
“A refurbished castle building could be for example, a museum of country life,” they suggested.
“The castle grounds could be returned to the wonderful gardens they previously were as another town centre Park providing recreational facilities for young and old and visitors alike.
“We already know the importance of this area with regard to our medieval history and heritage and its associations with the coming of the Anglo-Normans in the 1100s and the birth of Naas town.
We now will have the opportunity to exploit this unique history and heritage for the benefit of the town and its people.
“With imagination, insight and proper planning this area, the centre of what was medieval Naas can be something special in the middle of the town combining history, heritage, social infrastructure and environmental regeneration.
“A place to explore, relax and retreat for residents and visitors alike.
"There would however need to be a proper balance in any such development and one would caution the danger of including obtrusive development not in keeping with such an area."
They concluded: “The onus will be on those entrusted with the planning and development to ensure that a proper balance is struck between preserving history, heritage, providing community facilities, attracting tourism and all in a cost-effective way. If handled properly, this opportunity could provide many benefits for the town and its people."
It is not known what price has been agreed upon, but the council did refuse to pay a reputed €750,000 to the family of its last fulltime resident the former county surgeon Dr Jack Gibson in 2005, while at a 2021 Naas Municipal District meeting, a fantastic figure of €20m for the castle and its 1.2Ha (3ac) site was bandied about.
However, with the Department’s Urban Regeneration Grant (URG) for the Castle Quarter being €4.5m, it is believed the purchase price would be well south of that.
Believed to be over 800 years old, the castle fell in to a state of near dereliction since the death of Dr Gibson, and there have been many attempts in the interim to get it into public ownership as the centrepiece for the Castle Quarter.
The castle, along with St David's Church and the North Moat are the earliest surviving elements of the built heritage of the ancient town of Naas.
It is reputed that King John, heir to Henry 2nd visited the Castle on two occasions in the 12th century following the arrival of Normans from Pembrokeshire, hence it is occasionally being known as John’s Castle.
The last owner, Kevin Phelan, who took control site of the castle in January 2021, got his highly specialised permission to renovate in March 2022.
In 2023, Mr Phelan recounted to the that “the roof is completely done, the floors are in, and when the windows go I it will be completely sealed ... because it is a national monument, I’m restricted with what I can do, but next thing in will be the windows".
“To be fair I didn’t know it was a national monument when I bought it, I took it on as a project when my wife died,” he admitted.
“Every penny I’ve spent here has been documented, and I won’t make any profit,” he predicted.
“I haven’t applied for anything on the site … we haven’t even put in first fixings … I just want to get the Castle fixed."
Having hosted the author of the Magna Carta, and interred kings of Leinster and Munster in its grounds, St David’s - the last of eight castles in Naas mentioned in the Civil Survey of 1654 - has witnessed an awful lot of Ireland in its eight centuries of existence, and will now, hopefully, witness a few more.
