Lea Castle: the story so far
Date
2016Author
Dempsey, Karen
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Dempsey, Karen (2016-2017). Lea Castle: the story so far. Castle Studies Group Journal, 30, 237-253.
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Abstract
You could almost be forgiven for not knowing
about Lea Castle: it is not located off an
‘important’ modern road, it is not set in an
urban environment and it is not open to the
public. Lea is possibly one of Ireland’s most
overlooked Anglo-Norman castle-complexes.
Yet, it is of national importance and is of
immense value in terms of appreciating our
Anglo-Norman heritage. One of the main
problems - outside of being very overgrown
and neglected - is that little research has been
completed on the castle. The limited work that
has been achieved reaches various unsatisfactory conclusions (McNeill 1997, Sweetman
1999, O’Conor 1999). There is no consensus
in the opinions of these various scholars in
relation to its architecture, chronology or
patronage therefore this paper represents the
first examination of the story of Lea.