Malahide Castle was founded the reign of Henry II by Richard Talbot, who had received a grant of the adjoining lands, and was an ancestor of the present proprietor. The exterior of the building exhibits little traces of its ancient character; the old loopholes have been superseded by modern windows, the once formidable outworks have long since disappeared, and a grassy hollow is all that remains of the mediaeval castle moat.
Adjoining the Castle are the venerable remains of “The Abbey,” which consisted of a nave and chancel running due east and west, and which must have been one of the finest and largest churches in the whole district of Fingal.
At the south-eastern corner of the chancel is a pointed arch door, leading to a two-storied building, probably originally intended either as a vestry or a residence for the monks, but which for centuries past, has been used as a burial place of the lords of the manor.
In the centre of the nave is a monument to the Honorable Maud Plunkett, who was maid, wife and widow in one day, her husband, son of the Baron of Galtrim, having been slain on the day of his marriage in a predatory raid in the neighbourhood. This tragic incident forms the subject of Gerald Griffin’s ballad, “The Bridal of Malahide”