Ashtown Castle (

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

: ''Caisleán Bhaile an Ásaigh'') is a

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

in the

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tre ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland. It was found hidden within the walls of a much larger and more recent

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

building, the Under Secretary's Lodge also known as Ashtown Lodge, that was being used by the Papal Nuncio until 1978. At that time, the Lodge was deemed structurally irreparable due to

dry rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resul ...

. However, as the building was being demolished, Ashtown Castle was discovered. It has now been restored and forms part of the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre. It is thought to originally date from the 1430s, as it is built to dimensions that conform with a government policy of the time that offered £10 to those who built a castle for their own safety. The castle was later incorporated into the construction of Ashtown Lodge which was to serve as the official residence of the

Under Secretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

from 1782.

The Phoenix Park Visitor Centre

The Phoenix Park Visitor Centre is beside the Castle. It has visitor information, an exhibition of the Phoenix Park History dating back from 3500BC to the present. There is a restaurant in the visitors centre grounds.

References

External links

Heritage Ireland
Castles in Dublin (city) Historic house museums in the Republic of Ireland Museums in Dublin (city) Phoenix Park Tower houses in the Republic of Ireland {{Dublin-geo-stub