castles historical galway

About 12km out of Clifden on the Galway Road is the turn right for Toombeola. Some 5km along this road is Ballynahich Castle, now a hotel, but once the home of the great Martin family, who owned and ruled Connemara from 1700 to the period of the Great Famine (1845-47).

Here was born Richard Martin, the duellist and lover of animals, once known as - Hair-trigger Dick- by George IV because he was instrumental in founding the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The...

Richard de Burgo granted a charter to Meiler de Bermingham in 1235 and shortly afterwards de Bermingham started building his castle at Athenry. It was probably completed by 1250 and consists of a three storey tower surrounded by the remains of a strong outer wall. Among the buildings was a Dominican friary, also built by Meiler, which is now in ruins.
The basement of the tower has a vault carried by three pillars. The door is on the first floor, though the steps leading to it are moder...

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 fine castle built by the O'Flahertys around 1500. It is a six-storey tower with a good fireplace on the 3rd storey and a vault over the 4th. The roof is a good modern reconstruction. There are two corner bartizans on the 3rd floor.

The castle is unusual in having two bawns. The inner one is well preserved along the riverside and has a rounded turret with a fine corbelled roof at the south-western corner. The outer bawn also has a turret at the south-western corner, and encloses t...

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....

Dunguaire Castle has, for hundreds of years, stood proudly on the site of the 7th century stronghold of Guaire, the King of Connaught, its majesty dominating the shore of Galway Bay. The castle was built in 1520 by the O’Hynes clan and it gets its name from the ancient fort of Guaire. This restored 16th century tower house sits on a rocky outcrop on the shores of Galway Bay, 300 yards outside the picturesque village of Kinvara.
The Castle bridges 13 centuries of Irish history, from the...

Ballinderry Castle is 3km to the south east on the road to Barnaderg. It is believed to have been one of the last castles built in Ireland....

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...

Only one ceiling is retained, while there are also some scant remains of the bawn. It was the residence of Sir Thomas Fitzgerald, father of the betrayed Sugan Earl, until his death in 1595.

It was the scene of fighting with the Earl of Essex in 1599. James 1 granted it to Richard Boyle, afterwards Earl of Cork. Captured in 1645 by Lord Castlehaven, it was assaulted but not taken by Cromwell in 1650. It was burned in 1653, killing three daughters of the occupant. Afterwards it passed...