Baggotrath Castle

Baggotrath Castle or Baggotsrath Castle, was a medieval castle on present day Baggot Street in Dublin city centre. It was built in the late thirteenth century. During the English Civil War, possession of the castle, described as " the strongest fortress near Dublin" was of great importance to both sides, and it was largely destroyed on the eve of the Battle of Rathmines. The castle remained in a ruinous condition until the early nineteenth century when Dublin Corporation demolished it. No trace of it remains today, but it is known to have been at the present 44-46 Upper Baggot Street, facing Waterloo Road.



Early history
The castle and district took their name from Sir Robert Bagod, the Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, who purchased the lands about 1280 and built the castle. From the Bagods the castle passed to the Fitzwilliam family, who later gained the title Viscount Fitzwilliam. It passed to Sir Edward Perrers in the early 1400s but reverted to the Fitzwilliam family later in the century.

The castle was the scene of conflict in 1441 when Perrers' widow who had possession died appointing James Cornwalsh, the Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, her executor. Cornwalsh took possession, a move greatly resented by Perrers' daughter Ismay who had married into the Fitzwilliams. Her husband raised a substantial troop, attacked the castle, and according to the later charge " feloniously murdered" the judge. The charge of murder makes it difficult to explain why Fitzwilliam and Ismay were soon pardoned, although the Government of Henry VI was notably willing to issue pardons even for serious crimes.

The castle was described as being in a ruinous condition in 1489 but was soon rebuilt and by the 1640s was said to be the strongest fortress near Dublin, although the owners complained of substantial damage to their property in 1642.

Battle of Rathmines
See main article Battle of Rathmines

In July 1649 the Irish Royalist leader, James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde advanced on Dublin, which was held by Parliamentary forces under Colonel Michael Jones. Anticipating that Ormonde would try to seize Baggotrath Castle, Jones took the precaution of partly destroying it. Nonetheless Ormonde determined that the castle should be fortified if possible. On 1 August a troop of 1500 men was sent to secure it but arrived late and when Ormonde himself arrived he found that nothing had been done to fortify it. Meanwhile Jones had been alerted to Ormonde's arrival and attacked the castle with some 5000 men. The Royalist horse deserted and the foot soldiers were mostly killed or captured, allowing Jones to move on to his decisive victory at Rathmines.

No effort seems to have been made to restore the castle: the ruins were described in detail by Austin Cooper in 1778, and drawn by Francis Gosse in 1792, some years before the castle was demolished to allow for the extension of Baggot Street.