Medieval fortresses, Norman keeps, and tower houses
Showing 24 of 896 places
▶ VideoClassiebawn Castle is a country house on the Mullaghmore Peninsula near the village of Cliffoney in County Sligo, Ireland. It was built in the late 19th century for British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston (1784–1865) on what was then a 4,000-hectare (10,000-acre) estate.
Strancally Castle (from Irish Srón Chaillí, meaning 'nose of the hag') is a castellated country house in County Waterford, Ireland. It was built around 1827 near the site of an earlier castle overlooking the River Blackwater, close to the town of Tallow, County Waterford and Youghal, County Cork. Several structures in the demesne are listed on the Record of Protected Structures maintained by Waterford City and County Council.
▶ VideoWestport House in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland, is a Georgian country house, historically the family seat of the Marquess of Sligo and the Brownes. The house was designed by the architect Richard Cassels with later additions by Thomas Ivory and James Wyatt. The title and the house were separated in 2014, following the death of Jeremy Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo, who left the estate to his five daughters. His titles passed to his first cousin, Sebastian Ulick Browne, a residential estate agent in Australia. In 2017, the house was purchased by the Hughes family, owners of Portwest.
▶ VideoGlenveagh Castle (Irish: Caisleán Ghleann Bheatha) is a large castellated mansion located in Glenveagh National Park, County Donegal, Ireland and was built in about 1870.
▶ VideoCurraghmore near Portlaw, County Waterford, Ireland, is a historic house and estate and the seat of the Marquess of Waterford. The estate was part of the grant of land made to Sir Roger le Puher (la Poer) by Henry II in 1177 after the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. Since then, the De La Poer Beresford family has owned these estates. It is the oldest family home in Ireland.
▶ VideoMarkree Castle is a castle located in Collooney, County Sligo, Ireland. It is the ancestral seat of the Cooper family, partially moated by the River Unshin. Today it is a small family-run hotel. In the 1830s the Observatory on the grounds of the Castle had the largest refracting telescope in the world. What today is known as the asteroid 9 Metis was discovered there in the 1840s by the Coopers' observatory staff.
▶ VideoMoydrum Castle (Irish: Caisleán Maigh Droma meaning "plain of the ridge") is a ruined castle situated in the townland of Moydrum in County Westmeath in Ireland, just to the east of Athlone. The property is privately owned.
Gurteen de la Poer, or Gurteen le Poer, is an Elizabethan Revival house in County Waterford, Ireland, situated on the south bank of the River Suir, close to Kilsheelan and about 8 km east of Clonmel. The estate belonged to the de la Poers, an Anglo-Norman family whose affiliation with the Catholic Church led to their eventual expulsion from the Protestant English establishment. Edmund, 1st Count de la Poer, 18th Lord le Poer and Curraghmore, a Knight of Malta and Private Chamberlain to Pope Pius X, commenced the building of the present castle in 1863 to replace an earlier house which itself replaced a yet earlier house. The large baronial house was designed by Samuel Ussher Roberts (1821–1900), great-grandson of the 18th century Waterford architect John Roberts. The design of Castle Gurteen was probably influenced by Scottish architect William Burn, an architect responsible for several Tudor-Baronial mansions in Britain. Construction began 1863 and was completed in 1866. After the completion of Castle Gurteen, Samuel Ussher Roberts also designed Kylemore Castle (now Kylemore Abbey) in County Galway. A number of features used at Gurteen were also used at Kylemore, and the same builder, Thomas Carroll, worked on both castles.
▶ VideoArdgillan Castle is a country house near Balbriggan, County Fingal, Ireland. It is set in the 200-acre (0.81 km2) Ardgillan Demesne (Irish: Ard Giolláin), a public park in the jurisdiction of Fingal County Council.
▶ VideoCastle Oliver (also Clonodfoy) is a Victorian castle-style country house in the southern part of County Limerick, Ireland. Built for entertaining rather than for defence, it has a ballroom, drawing room, library, morning room, dining room and hall which feature hand-painted ceilings, decorated ornamental corbels, superbly executed stained glass windows and stencil work. The castle stands on massive terraces and has a commanding view over much of its former 20,000-acre (81 km2) estate. The castle has Ireland's largest wine cellar, said to hold approximately 55,000 bottles.
▶ VideoCastle Roche (Irish: Dún Gall) is a Norman castle located some 10 km (7 miles) north-west of Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. It was the seat of the de Verdun family (also spelt de Verdon), who built the castle in 1236. It is built upon a large rocky outcrop and commands extensive views of the surrounding country. Together with a deep moat, its strong walls rendered it virtually impregnable. A secret passage once connected the castle to a round tower outpost. St. Ronan's Well lies nearby.
▶ VideoBallinalacken Castle is a two-stage tower house located in Killilagh parish of County Clare, Ireland. It is of uncertain date but most likely was built in the 15th or early 16th century.
▶ VideoBarberstown Castle is a structure originally built in 1288 in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland, 25 km (15 miles) west of Dublin. It has been operating as a hotel since 1971 and is surrounded by 20 acres (8.1 ha) of gardens. Renovations in 1996 revealed a previously undiscovered tunnel that links the castle to the nearby church in Straffan and is thought to have been used under the Penal Laws.
Loughmoe Castle (Irish: Caisláin Luach Magh, also spelt Loughmore Castle) is a ruined castle in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is by Loughmore village, 5 km south of Templemore. The castle was the ancestral home of the Purcell family, the Barons of Loughmoe.
Dunasead Castle (Irish: Dún na Séad, meaning 'fort of the jewels'), sometimes known as Baltimore Castle, is a 17th-century fortified house situated in the town of Baltimore in County Cork, Ireland. The tower house is built on the site of an earlier Norman-era structure, which itself replaced an earlier Bronze Age ringfort. Traditionally associated with the chiefs of clan O'Driscoll, the castle was purchased and restored by members of the McCarthy family in the late 1990s, and partially opened to the public from 2005.
▶ VideoKnockdrin (Irish: Cnoc Droinne) is a townland and electoral division that is 5.6 kilometers northeast of Mullingar, in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is the home of the Westmeath Hunt, and its most notable building is Knockdrin Castle. The R394 regional road, the main Mullingar to Castlepollard route, runs through the area.
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▶ VideoCarbury Castle is a castle situated in the townland of Carbury, near the border between County Kildare and County Offaly. Carbury Castle was built in the 13th century by Pierce St. Leger.
▶ VideoTyrrellspass Castle is a medieval castle in Tyrrellspass, County Westmeath, Ireland. Dating back to circa 1411, it is the only remaining castle of the Tyrrells who came to Ireland around the time of the Norman Invasion.
▶ VideoCastle Archdale in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, is a former estate on the shores of Lough Erne Lower, the key feature of which today is Castle Archdale Country Park. There is also a caravan park. The former estate is situated near Lisnarick and Irvinestown, in the broader hinterland of Enniskillen, and the park is owned and run by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.
▶ VideoCarrigrohane Castle is located in the village of Carrigrohane, barony of Barretts in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated on a rocky cliff-edge which overlooks the River Lee.
Ballinlough Castle is a 17th-century country house situated near the rural town of Clonmellon in County Westmeath, Ireland on a hill overlooking two of the Westmeath lakes. It is the home of Nicholas and Alice Nugent.
▶ VideoBarmeath Castle is a country house near Dunleer in the centre of County Louth. Of note are the castle's 10 acres of gardens designed by the 18th-century landscape architect Thomas Wright. Barmeath Castle was erected in the 15th century and the Bellew family have lived there since 1670. It is the ancestral seat of the Barons Bellew.
Shanbally Castle was located near Clogheen, County Tipperary and built for Cornelius O'Callaghan, 1st Viscount Lismore in around 1810. It was the largest house built in Ireland by the noted English architect John Nash. The castle was acquired by the Irish Land Commission in 1954. On 21 March 1960 the castle, after much controversy, was demolished.