castles historical galway

Situated on the rocky hill south of the landing place, and also known as Dun Formna, this is a 15th century tower, set in a stone ring-fort, which is one of Inis Oirr's (Inisheer) striking features as you approach the island....

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...

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....

Some 7km along the road to Tuam, near Castletown House, is the site of the ancestral home of the Lally's, Tollendal (of Tullynadaly) Castle.
One member of the family, the celebrated Baron Lally, Marechal de France, made strenuous attempts to drive the English from India.
He failed and was executed by Louis xv as a traitor, but afterwards his name was cleared, and is inscribed in the Arch De Triomphe in Paris....

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...

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....

Known to have been owned by Shane Ballagh in 1574, this is a 16th century tower of five storeys, with the ground and second floor vaulted.
A spiral staircase, as usual, leads to the top. The castle was damaged when it was occupied in 1920....

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...