Altidore Castle

Altidore was built as a residence for General Thomas Pearce, uncle of the Surveyor General Sir Edward Lovett Pearce, in about 1730. Sir Edward designed some of Ireland’s finest early Palladian buildings and architectural historians speculate that he may well have been responsible for the design of Altidore. It is clearly in the same vein as the early 18th century ‘toy forts' and castles designed by Pearce and his cousin, the English playwright turned architect Sir John Vanbrugh. It should be compared with Arch Hall in County Meath and Wardtown in County Donegal, both now in ruins. Built beside a medieval castle of the O’Toole family, on the eastern slopes of the Wicklow Mountains, north of Newtownmountkennedy, the castle looks out over wooded parkland to the coastal plain and the Irish Sea beyond.