castles historical ireland

The Scottish baronial style castle, now a conference centre was formerly the house of the Annesley family and overlooks the large central lake. The lake is stocked with brown and rainbow trout which can be fished from April to October. A licence is required. The lake is also used for canoeing....

There was formerly an establishment of the Knights Templars here beside this peaceful inlet, but the present 5 storey castle is 15th century in date and probably has nothing to do with the Knights. The ground floor is vaulted and has a number of deep recesses, and the second floor is also vaulted.

There are also a number of recesses on the third storey; that on the east wall was once a chapel. On the same floor is now inaccessible prisoners' cell. An amount of 17th century pottery wa...

A fine 15th or 16th century tower beautifully situated beside an inlet of Clew Bay. it has four storeys and a corner turret, as well as a fireplace on the top floor. It is said to have been besieged by an expedition sent from Galway in 1574, but the invasion was driven off by Grace O'Malley who lived there after the death of her second husband, Sir Richard Burke, in 1583. She retired to the castle with 'all her own followers and 1,000 head of cows and mares'....

A landmark dominating land and sea which has for centuries been the gateway to Northern Ireland....

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....

Dunboy Castle beside the remains of the older O'Sullivan Bere Castle, destroyed in a siege in 1602, stand the impressive ruins of a vast 19th century castle in a bewildering mixture of styles, including french chateaux and Italian villa.

The castle was built by the Puxley family, landlords until 1921, who made their fortune from the copper mines in Allihies.
Dunboy woods are open to the public with picnic areas and walks....

Drimnagh Castle was, until 1954 one of the oldest continually inhabited Castles in Ireland, and is an outstanding example of an old feudal stronghold.

It is the only Irish castle still to be surrounded by a flooded moat, a very picturesque feature, described in 1780 as a "very deep ditch of water supplied from the Green Hills". It is now stocked with fish.

The castle, built of local grey limestone, consists of a restored Great Hall and medieval undercroft, a tall battlement tower...

Well-preserved four-storey tower house which withstood a siege around 1600. Largest of cluster of castles built in Ardglass in Middle Ages to protect the port. Other tower houses at Kilclief and Strangford....

The remains of a once fine 13th century castle, built by the Mac Jordans. The curtain wall encloses an area roughly hexagonal in shape which contains the foundations of a number of buildings. The wall probably dates to the early years of the 13th century, but the two rounded gate-bastions, of which only one remains, were built around 1260....

The castle was probably built by Theobald Walter Butler some time early in the 13th century, and the Butlers still owned it in 1640. the castle is square in plan with rounded turrets at the corner, but only one storey of the original three or four remain. The tower on the north-east is only enterable by steps up from the outside. The interior of the castle was divided into two apartments by dividing wall. Access to the castle is by foot only, as it's located on private land.

In t...