Leixlip - Local Attractions

Local Attractions

Leixlip Castle. Built on a rock at the confluence of the River Liffey and the Rye Water, the central part of the castle dates from 1172, just after the Norman Invasion of 1171 and is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited buildings in Ireland, pre-dating Dublin Castle by 30 years. It was used as a hunting base by King John when Lord of Ireland in 1185. It was not of major military importance but withstood a 4-day siege by the army of Edward Bruce in 1316.

Bought by judge Nicholas White in 1567, it remained in his family until 1728, when Leixlip and 809 acres around it including the castle was then bought by William Conolly of nearby Castletown House for £12,000. His family sold it in 1914. Various famous tenants of the Conollys in the castle included Archbishop Stone, the Protestant Primate (1750s), the Viceroy Lord Townshend (1770s), Lord Waterpark, and Baron de Robeck. In the 1920s it was the residence of the first French ambassador to the Irish Free State. In 1945 the castle was sold to William Kavanagh, prior to the purchase in April 1958 by The Hon. Desmond Guinness.

Castletown House & The Wonderful Barn. Located off the main street of nearby Celbridge, Castletown House is the first grand Palladian House in Ireland - the design of the building led to the construction of Leinster House and from thence to the White House in Washington, D.C.. Begun in 1722 by Speaker William Conolly (1662–1729), Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, the lands and the house itself lie in Celbridge, however there is also an entrance from Leixlip, hence there are two modern estates bearing the Castletown name, one in each town. To mark the eastern vista of Castletown a conical shaped building - The Wonderful Barn - was constructed in 1743 with the stairs ascending around the exterior of the building.

St Catherine's Priory was an important monastery in the Middle Ages.

A further point of interest is Confey Castle, which the British Publisher and Cartographer Samuel Lewis, mentions in the first volume of his 1837 opus "A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland". In it he comments that Confey's (or Confoy as he spells it) population was 165, had formerly had a town and a castle of some importance, which were noticed by Camden. Of the tower’s remains were a massive five storey structure with turrets at the north and west angles; that at the north angle containing a winding staircase opening through pointed arches into each storey. The principal entrance was under a semicircular archway. In the war of 1688 the castle is said to have been strongly garrisoned, and to have sustained an attack.

Also of note is Leixlip Spa, a spa found by workmen working on the construction of the Royal Canal, which runs through Leixlip.

Leixlip's main attraction in the past was the Salmon Leap, from which the town is named, a 5 metre waterfall on the Liffey just upstream from the then village. This was a popular place for Dubliners wanting a day out in the country, and the Salmon Leap Inn was built to refresh them. A hydroelectric dam was completed in 1945 and its lake flooded the waterfall. The dam generates 4 MW.