Castledermot

Historic town in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, 10 km/6 mi northeast of Carlow; population (2002) 1,120. Originally the site of a monastery founded by Saint Dermot in 812, it became a walled town, and gained great military significance following the construction of a castle in 1182. Edward Bruce was defeated here in 1316 by Edmund Butler, and a parliament was held in 1499. Oliver Cromwell sacked the town in 1649, but traces of its medieval walls and Carlow Gate still stand. Significant monastic remains include two 9th-century high crosses with scripture panels, a Romanesque doorway, and a 10th-century round tower, 22 m/76 ft high.

Other local remains include a 14th-century Franciscan friary and Pigeon House, the square tower of a house of Crutched Friars, founded around 1200.

Kilkea Castle, built in 1180 by Hugh de Lacy and now a hotel and leisure centre, lies 4 km/2 mi northwest of the town. Formerly the seat of the Fitzgerald family, Earls of Kildare, it is the oldest inhabited castle in Ireland. It was the birthplace of the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1874.