Carlow landmark set for new dig as funding announced in hopes of uncovering hidden history

A major new archaeological dig is set to take place at one of Carlow's best-known landmarks after Ballymoon Castle was awarded fresh funding for new research.

The Royal Irish Academy has announced €190,000 in national funding for archaeology projects in 2026, with Ballymoon Castle in Co Carlow among the sites to receive backing.

The Ballymoon Castle Research Project has been allocated €22,463 under the Archaeological Research Excavation Grants scheme.

The project will be led by archaeologist Nial O'Neill, in partnership with Carlow County Council, and will focus on uncovering how Ballymoon Castle was used in the centuries after its construction.

Research carried out to date has shown that there was "significant activity in the surrounds of Ballymoon Castle in the 16th/early 17th century", but the period from around 1320AD to 1550AD remains unclear. The latest excavation aims to fill that long-standing knowledge gap.

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The Royal Irish Academy said the funding will "enable archaeological research projects to take place across the country in 2026", with Ballymoon Castle listed among the most significant of the new research projects.

Speaking about the new funding round, Mary Deevy, Chair of the Standing Committee for Archaeology at the Royal Irish Academy, said:

"These three distinct but complementary grant schemes will facilitate a diverse range of research centred on archaeological excavation – whether new, old or from the archives. Exciting results are anticipated, some of which will change the face of Irish archaeology as we know it."

Other projects receiving funding include excavations at Castlepook in Co Cork, further investigation of the Viking site at Woodstown in Co Waterford, and analysis of a destroyed court tomb on the Maree Peninsula in Co Galway.

For Carlow, the new research is expected to shed fresh light on how Ballymoon Castle was used in the centuries after its original construction, and potentially rewrite part of the story of one of the county's historic landmarks.