Malahide Castle
RMalahide Castle is in the town of Robswall overlooking the Broadmeadow Water, also known as Malahide estuary and only a ten minute walk from the coast road footpath which links Portmarnock and Malahide.
King Henry II gifted Richard Talbot the lands and harbour of Malahide for his services to the crown in 1185. From that point on, the Talbot family became intertwined with Malahide’s history and development. The earliest believed stone fortress at Malahide was an Anglo-Norman tower house. From the 12th century onwards, this stronghold was continually expanded by the Talbot family. Rooms were modified, fortifications developed and many embellishments to the interior were added until the castle took on its current form.Facilities
Robswall Castle is a private dwelling and not open to the public.
The original tower was constructed over four floors was thought to have been built in the 15th century by the de Bermingham family.
The castle is recorded as being the home of the Cistercian Monks of St Mary's Abbey. The castle's position at the entrance to the harbor ensured that the Monks were never without fish as the local fishermen always gave a donation when coming back into port.
When the monasteries were dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540 the castle was granted to Patrick Barnwell, Solicitor General for Ireland. The castle was recorded in the 'Downs Survey'; so called because details of the properties were written down, as Roebuck's Wall and described as a thatched castle belonging to the Barnwalls of Turvey. It was after this time that one storey of the tower was removed.