On this day in 1264, the first recorded session of an Irish Parliament sat in Castledermot, Co Kildare. Produced and presented by Brian Byrne for Kilcullen Diary.

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The event had been called to determine if the Archbishop Fulk de Sandeford had the rights to hold court and dispense justice. He was in contention with the then lord of Ireland, Prince Edward, son of Henry III.

The Castledermot Parliament is accepted as the original of a line of such institutions in this country from Norman times to the 19th century.

The south Kildare town was at the time an important centre in the Normans’ settlement of Ireland, as well having a strong religious presence.

Because the Irish government records dating back to the 12th century were destroyed in 1922 in a Civil War explosion at the Four Courts, there’s no official record remaining of that Castledermot meeting. But fortunately, the Archbishop de Sandeford had his own chronicler at the event, and this report ended up in the so-called Black Book of Christchurch.

The precise location of that first Parliament in Castledermot is not known. But a subsequent established Parliament House is said to have been built on the site now occupied by a pub in the town.