castles historical ireland

A motte, causeway and bailey possibly started by Pipard around 1193 and made into a castle in 1197. the first fortification was made of wood, but the stone castle was erected in 1244. It was delivered up to the Crown in 1302, and was abandoned in the 15th century.

The motte is covered in trees, but some of the walls of the castle still remain. The motte was joined to the castle by means of a stone causeway or bridge, probably erected in 1244....

Remains of a castle built by the Wogans who came to Ireland with Henry 11. The castle is mentioned in 1454 when it was attacked by another branch of the Wogan family. It was fortified in 1641, but surrendered to General Mant in the following year, when Nicholas Wogan was outlawed for treason. The main surviving free-standing structure is nothing but the two-storey gatehouse leading to the enclosure in which the castle stood. It has a mullioned window in the east wall. It possibly dates to th...

The remains of a square castle with rounded turrets at the corners and surrounded by a moat.
Although in the style of the castles of the 13th century, it was built in the 15th or 16th century, probably by the Cogans from whom it was acquired by the Earls of Desmond....

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....

This town is about 13 miles from Mullingar and was built in the late 17th century by the Pollard family under a charter from Charles II. The old National school has been converted into an agricultural museum and heritage centre. Just outside Castlepollard in Tullynally Castle, the home of the Earl of Longford's family, the Packenhams.

The gardens are open from May to September....

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....

Drumena is an irregularly shaped stone fort or cashel measuring 132 ft by 108 ft, and with walls 9-12 ft thick (which were partially re-built in 1925-26). The original entrance was probably on the east side, and a confused jumble of stones in the interior may once have formed the foundations of a house. Also inside the cashel is an easily accessible T-shaped souterrain which reaches a maximum height of 7 feet. The whole complex is likely to date from the Early Christian period....

This charming informal garden on the banks of the Argideen river has been created by five generations of the Travers family.
The 121 ha estate was originally purchased with the village of Timoleague by Colonel Robert E. Travers in 1818 and he began laying out the grounds around the later Georgian house he built there. Each generation of the Travers family has added to the gardens over the intervening 160 years.

The gardens are a tribute to their plantsmanship and palm trees and ot...

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

Ballaghmore Castle (1480) was the chief seat of the Mac Gillpatricks (Fitzpatricks) Lords of the Upper Ossory. It's strategically placed on the Bealach Mor, the great road to Munster. Partially destroyed by Cromwellians in 1647 it came into possession of the Cootes who leased it to the Elys. Richard Ely, financed by a hoard of gold found on his land, partially restored it in the 1830s. Ely was murdered by a tenant, and the castle was neglected.

It was bought by the present owners...