castles historical galway

The ruins of 13th century tower house stand at the foot of the famed Knockma. It was built by the Hacketts, a Norman family who established themselves along the east side of Lough Corrib, having driven the O' Flahertys across the lake to Connemara. The Kirwans, one of the tribes of Galway settled there in the 15th century....

Ballinasloe Castle which commanded the bridge over the River Suck, was built by the O'Kelly's in the 14th century. Later it belonged to the Earl of Clanricarde and was captured by Ireton at the Cromwellian War.

One tower and part of the curtain wall are all that remain. Portion of the present bridge was built to the order of Queen Elizabeth in the 16th century....

A well-preserved tower built by the de Burgos in the 16th or 17th century. It has four storeys, the second of which is vaulted. There are two staircases in the walls.

It got its name 'Jenning's Castle' because, as tradition states, several of its owners were called Eoin, anglicised John or Jenning. The last occupant who was a lady, was dispossessed by the Cromwellians....

This 16th century O'Hynes castle, with six sided by windows, set on a rock on the edge of Galway Bay by the approach to Kinvara has been restored.
From mid-May to mid-September medieval banquets are held and guests are afterwards entertained with Irish music and dancing as well as the reading of extracts from writers with local connections -Yeats, Lady Gregory, Martyn and blind Raftery the poet....

Glinsk Castle or fortified house is situated near the River Suck, 6.4km north-west of Creggs village. It is one of the finest examples in Ireland of architecture in transition from fortified castle to castellated house.

This castle was built in 1675 by Sir Ulick Burke, Third Baronet of Glinsk. It appears to have been built on the site of an earlier castle. The mosts outstanding of the architectural features are the two fine chimney stacks which lend the castle a sense of elegance....

The impressive castle at Portumna was the seat of the Clanricarde Burkes, the most important landowners in County Galway. It was completed in 1617 by Richard Burke, the 4th Earl of Clanricarde, but was destroyed by fire in 1826.
The Office of Public Works has been involved in its restoration in recent times. It's a large building, rectangular in shape, with four square towers at the corners. It was one of the first buildings in Ireland with Renaissance features and is also noted for the...

A fine mid-16th century tower-house. The first floor is vaulted and has a fireplace. The second floor had a fine room with arcades, and a very good fireplace, inserted in 1604, with a Latin inscription asking that the builder (whose initials were W.H. ) be preserved from all evil.

The stairs leading to this floor is very twisty. The tower stands at the corner of a bawn, foundations of which remain. The castle was built by the MacHubert Burkes, and rebuilt by MacRedmond Burke about 1...

The Castle:

The first castle was built here by de Bermingham about 1225, but it was burned by the sons of the kings of Connacht in 1249, by Fichra O'Flynn in 1284 and by Rory O'Connor in 1315. The present castle was probably built after the last burning. It is a massive rectangular tower of four storeys situated on a motte with the remains of a fortifying wall around it.

The tower is bare inside, and the mullioned windows on the top floor suggest that it was partiall...

This is a fine early 16th century tower standing in a bawn. The ground and third floors are vaulted, and there are mullioned windows and a fine fireplace on the 3rd floor. The six-sided bawn is one of the best preserved in the country, and the projecting angle in the west wall, constructed so as to have a wider range of fire, is probably imitated from the star-shaped forts. Nearby are the ruins of a contemporary gatehouse.

The castle was one of three built and owned by the O'Shaughne...

This is a well-preserved four-storey tower with good fireplaces on the three upper floors. The two-and-three-mullioned windows, and the oval hole at the bottom of the stairs, were probably copied from Portumna Castle nearby, which had only recently been built.

The tower forms part of an L-shaped bawn with rounded turrets at opposite corners. On the corbels of the turret at the north-eastern corner of the tower is the inscription 'D': OM ME: FIERI: FECIT: 1643' which states that a man...