Rathfarnham Castle and its Place in Early Modern Architectural History

An illustrated talk by Prof. Tadhg O'Keeffe on the history of the design and construction of Rathfarnham Castle

Rathfarnham Castle is a remarkable building. A huge building by pre-Georgian standards, it is the earliest surviving great house in Ireland from the period around 1600 when the arrival of design ideas from Renaissance Europe began to transform the character of elite domestic architecture on the island. In this lecture, the castle is compared with other buildings of the period in Ireland and England, and the brilliance of its design-conception is discussed.

Prof. Tadhg O'Keeffe is Full Professor of Medieval Archaeology and Architectural History in UCD, where he has taught since 1996. Much of his research is focused on placing medieval and early modern Irish buildings in their European context. His most recent book is Medieval Irish Architecture and the Concept of Romanesque: Building Traditions in Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Europe (London 2024).

Doors open 3pm. The event commences at 3.30pm.