A professor recently discovered that a medieval castle thought lost for centuries was hiding in plain sight – inside a Victorian-era building on a modern university campus.
The discovery was announced by University College Dublin (UCD), in Dublin, Ireland, on September 18.
The school announced in a statement — titled “‘Lost’ medieval castle found hidden in UCD building” — that medieval archeology professor Tadhg O’Keeffe discovered that significant parts of medieval Roebuck Castle still survive in the current university building.
Today’s Roebuck Castle retains the name of its medieval predecessor, but it was long thought that the Victorian-looking building contained little, if any, of the original castle.
The original structure had fallen into disrepair by the 18th century and was later incorporated into a residence which underwent significant alterations, including a major Victorian renovation in 1874. UCD purchased the property in 1986.
O’Keeffe told Fox News Digital that, despite these centuries of change, most of the medieval structure is still there.
“I would say 70 to 80 percent of the building is still there, hidden under the Victorian plaster,” he said.
He began his research after studying 18th-century watercolors by artist Gabriel Béranger, which depicted the medieval castle before the property underwent major redevelopment.
“I wasn’t very optimistic,” O’Keeffe said. “When I entered the building and looked around, I realized that actually most of the castle is still there, inside the building.
“It’s not obvious to the naked eye,” he continued. “It’s not obvious to a non-expert. But I specialize in medieval castle architecture and I saw every indication when I walked in that the castle is still there.”
The clues were hidden beneath the building’s more modern appearance.
O’Keeffe pointed to the unusually thick walls, as well as a stone vault and a stone arched roof, as evidence of the building’s medieval past.
“The gate tower is very clear inside,” he said.
“Everything is covered in plaster, so you can’t see the original masonry anymore, but everything is clearly still there,” he said. “Also, the windows are splayed, and the splayed windows are a real indication of a medieval date.”
Roebuck Castle was probably built in the early 13th century, after the Norman invasion of Ireland began in the late 12th century.
Roebuck Castle also stands out for another reason: researchers know who it belonged to during much of the Middle Ages.
The owners were “people of some importance,” O’Keeffe added.
“One of them, in modern terms, would be the equivalent of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the highest legal figure in Ireland for part of the Middle Ages,” the historian said.
“Another resident at one time, temporarily, was King James II. He is said to have lived there briefly in the late 1600s.”
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