In the early 12th. century, Patrick Babe was given five hundred acres of land in the parish of Darver by King James II. He built a castle for himself and his family on the grounds formerly owned by the church. The castle was built on the north side of the hill and on the edge of the deep slope that led to the banks of two rivers.
Patrick Babe had a round tower built on the top of the hill and placed soldiers into the garrison which gave them a clear view clear view for forty miles. No enemy ever got near Darver Castle during all wars.
The church was never reached by Cromwell because of the protection from the hill tower. When the wars were over, Patrick Babe had wings put on the front of the tower and converted it into a windmill. This continued for a hundred and fifty years until large mills were built the edge of the rivers, so that the use of the towermill ended and it was later demolished. The hill is still known as windmill hill. The Castle House is the Manor House of Darver townland and at the end of the 14th century the Babe family built fourteen houses for their tenants. They also built a forge in the locality and this was used until the early 19th century; it was eventually demolished in the 1980's.
The hill in the center of Darver Parish is known today as a crop mark enclosure, which in pre-Christian times would have been used as the living place of the Druid Chief, with his tribesmen living on the slopes where rituals were performed.
Darver Castle in County Louth has been part of the Irish landscape for more than five hundred years. Darver takes its name from the Gaelic word Dairbhe - meaning Oakwood. The Babe family, who built Darver Castle, came to Ireland and settled in County Louth almost two hundred years before Columbus sailed to America.
The Babe Family were members of a political, economic and cultural elite called the Normans whose origins were in Normandy, France. The Normans had invaded and conquered England in the 11th century. They came to Ireland in the 12th century but failed to conquer the country completely. The Babe family at Darver Castle were an outpost of the medieval Anglo-Norman kingdom which included England and Wales, Northern France and parts of Ireland .
Built beside an ancient Celtic Christian site, the earliest records of the castle date back to the end of the 13th century when Patrick Babe built Darver Castle which in that era was a wood structure.
The Babe family, whose descendants still live in County Louth, remained at Darver Castle for almost four hundred years. They must have been survivors because they held onto their castle and their lands during the most troubled and violent periods of Irish history. Political stability returned to Ireland at the end of the 17th century. Land ownership was confirmed by various Acts of Parliament and the sale, lease and transfer of landed property became part of normal commercial activity. The Babe family sold Darver Castle around 1740 and the estate had various owners until it was bought by Ranfal Booth from Dublin. The Booth family continued to live at Darver Castle until 1980.
Darver Castle was not lived in again until 1993 when it was purchased by the McCormack family. The McCormack family made some renovations to Darver Castle and lived there until 1997 when it was sold to Patrick Carville.
The Carville family have refurbished and redecorated the entire castle.
