castles historical gort

Thoor Ballylee Castle is a four storey tower dating back to the 16th century, beautifully situated beside a stream. There was much to enchant William Butler Yeats on his first visit to Ballylee in 1885: the old square castle, the little river and the legend of a most beautiful local woman 'Mary Hynes, the Shining Flower of Ballylee.
He eventually bought the medieval tower, which was built by the Norman de Burgo family, with a cottage and garden for the grand sum of IR35.00 in 1916. The...

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...

A little past Coole, Gort, the road passes the entrance to Tullira Castle, the home of Edward Martyn, poet and patron of the arts.

He was instrumental in starting the Dublin School of Stained Glass, some early and remarkable examples of which can be seen in nearby Labane church....

It is an O' Shaughnessy castle built early in the 16th century. It stands on an elevated site and is partially surrounded by its original defensive wall.

In 1579 Ardmullivan witnessed a bloody encounter between Dermot, known as the - Queens O' Shaughnessy - and his nephew john, who had claimed the family estates against his unpopular uncle. The two men fought hand-to-hand, the outcome being the deaths of both....