Stately homes, manor houses, and ancient ringforts
Showing 24 of 227 places
▶ VideoKilkea Castle is located 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of Castledermot, County Kildare, Ireland near the village of Kilkea on the R418 regional road from Athy to Tullow. It was a medieval stronghold, for over 700 years, of the Fitzgeralds, earls of Kildare.
▶ VideoDangan Castle is a former stately home in County Meath, Ireland, which is now in a state of ruin. It is situated by Dangan Church on the Trim Road. The castle is the former seat of the Wesley (Wellesley) family and is located outside the village of Summerhill. It was the childhood home of Field Marshal The 1st Duke of Wellington.
▶ VideoCastle Saunderson (Irish: Caisleán Shandarsan) is a castle near Belturbet in County Cavan, Ireland. It was the former family seat of the Saunderson family, and is now in ruins. The Finn River flows along the north-eastern edge of the Castle Saunderson Demesne, where the river enters a narrow channel of Upper Lough Erne. The castle is about a half a mile west from Wattlebridge, a small hamlet in the south-south-east of County Fermanagh. The Castle Saunderson International Scouting Centre is a Scouting Ireland facility, opened in 2012 within the grounds of the castle. The centre provides indoor accommodation and campsites covering 34 acres (14 ha). It is open to Scouts year round, as well as to non-Scouts for most of the year. It currently acts as a World Scouting Centre for the Scouts, alongside Cairo International Scout Centre in Egypt and others.
▶ VideoKilronan Castle, previously known as Castle Tenison, is a large country house standing in 40 acres (16 ha) of parkland on the shore of Lough Meelagh in County Roscommon, Ireland, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the village of Ballyfarnon. The house, originally constructed c.1820, was considerably expanded in the 1880s to form the current building. The newer part is a two storey, irregular building with a large baronial tower adjacent to the older building. It now functions as a spa hotel.
Belle Isle Castle is an 18th-century house on Belle Isle, an island previously known, in Gaelic times, as Ballymacmanus Island or Senadh-Mic-Maghnusa or, simply, Senad. The Belle Isle Estate stretches over 470-acres near Lisbellaw in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
▶ VideoThe Grianán of Aileach ( GREE-nən əv AL-yə(kh); Irish: Grianán Ailigh [ˌɟɾʲiənˠaːnˠ ˈalʲiː]), sometimes anglicised as Greenan Ely or, locally, as Greenan Fort, is a hillfort atop the 244 metres (801 ft) high Greenan Mountain at Burt on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, Ireland. The main structure is a 19th-century reconstruction of a stone ringfort, thought to have been built by the Northern Uí Néill, in the sixth or seventh century CE; although there is evidence that the site had been in use before the fort was built. It has been identified as the seat of the Kingdom of Ailech and one of the royal sites of Gaelic Ireland. The wall is about 4.5 metres (15 ft) thick and 5 metres (16 ft) high. Inside it has three terraces, which are linked by steps, and two long passages within it. Originally, there would have been buildings inside the ringfort. Just outside it are the remains of a well and a tumulus. By the 12th century, the Kingdom of Ailech had become embattled and lost a fair amount of territory to the invading Normans. According to Irish literature, the ringfort was mostly destroyed by Muirchertach Ua Briain, King of Munster, in 1101. According to Tony Nugent, the Grianan was also used as a Mass rock during the anti-Catholic religious persecution that began under Henry VIII and ended only with Catholic Emancipation in 1829. Substantial restoration work was carried out in 1870. Today, the site is protected as a national monument and is a tourist attraction.
Spike Island (Irish: Inis Píc) is an island of 103 acres (42 ha) in Cork Harbour, Ireland. Originally the site of a monastic settlement, the island is dominated by an 18th-century bastion fort now named Fort Mitchel. The island's strategic location within the harbour meant it was used at times for defence and as a prison. Since the early 21st century the island has been developed as a heritage tourist attraction, with €5.5 million investment in exhibition and visitor spaces and accompanying tourism marketing. There were in excess of 81,000 visitors to the island during 2019, a 21% increase on 2018 numbers. Spike Island was named top European tourist attraction at the 2017 World Travel Awards.
Charles Fort (Irish: Dún Chathail) is a trace italienne fortification, a bastion fort with one section of the outer wall built in star fashion. It is located at the southern end of the village of Summer Cove, on Kinsale harbour, County Cork, Ireland. First completed in 1682, Charles Fort was sometimes historically referred to as the "new fort", to contrast with James' Fort (the "old fort") which had been built on the other side of Kinsale harbour before 1607. The fort is now operated as a heritage tourism site by the Heritage Ireland arm of the Office of Public Works.
Duckett's Grove (Irish: Garrán Duckett) is a ruined 19th-century great house and former estate in County Carlow, Ireland. Belonging to the Duckett family, the house was formerly the focal point of a 12,000-acre (49 km2) estate, and dominated the local landscape of the area for more than two centuries. The interior of the house was destroyed by a major fire in the 1930s and is now inaccessible. The surrounding gardens, including two inter-connecting walled gardens, are now managed by Carlow County Council and open as a public park.
Florence Court is a large 18th-century house and estate located eight miles (13 km) south-west of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is set in the foothills of Cuilcagh Mountain. The nearby village is distinguished by the one-word name Florencecourt. It is owned and managed by the National Trust and is the sister property of nearby Castle Coole. The other National Trust property in County Fermanagh is the Crom Estate.
Humewood Castle is a 32,668 square feet (3,035.0 m2) Gothic-fantasy mansion built in 1870 in 427 acres of parkland at Kiltegan, County Wicklow in Ireland. The mansion was originally built by the English architect William White and extended by James Brooks as a private residence of the Hume family. As of 2024, it is owned by American billionaire John C. Malone. Built of granite, the three-story main building is flanked by a tall, round turreted tower at one end and a more angular tower at the other. The ground floor consists of a drawing room, dining room, salon and ballroom banqueting hall and a lower ground floor a billiard room, smoking room and wine cellar. The upper floors contain 12 bedrooms.
Brownlow House, also known as Brownlow Castle and Lurgan Castle, is a Grade A listed 19th century house located in Lurgan, Northern Ireland. It was built for Irish politician Charles Brownlow, 1st Baron Lurgan in 1833 by Scottish architect William Henry Playfair and was used as a military headquarters in both world wars.
Killymoon Castle is a castle situated about one mile (1.6 km) south east of Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, on the north bank of the Ballinderry River. It is located above the Ballinderry River with a back-drop of woodland and parkland. The garden front is dominated by an almost central battlemented, machicolated round tower and turret that protrudes from the facade. At one end is an octagonal tower with similar features; and at the other end (the front) is the square tower in the base of which is arched to accommodate a porte-cochére. This tower also has slender, octagonal clasping buttresses with cupolas. The windows are pointed, grouped together under segmental hood mouldings. An 18-hole golf course was built on the parkland, where British tournaments have been played.
Rothe House is a late 16th-century merchant's townhouse complex located in the city of Kilkenny, Ireland. The complex was built by John Rothe Fitz-Piers between 1594 and 1610 and is made up of three houses, three enclosed courtyards, and a large reconstructed garden with orchard. As a museum, it is accessible to the public. Rothe House is the only remaining example of a complete burgage plot in Ireland, and considered to be nationally significant because of the range of original post-medieval features that survive. The property, an important element of Kilkenny's heritage, is owned by the Kilkenny Archaeological Society and houses some of the society's collection of artefacts relating to Kilkenny City, County and Ireland. The garden to the rear of the house has been reconstructed to reflect a typical 17th-century garden. It features a well dug by Cistercian monks (based in Duiske Abbey in Graiguenamagh) who owned the property before the dissolution of monasteries. The burgage plot on which Rothe House was built survives intact – one of a few in such an unaltered state. Kilkenny's medieval city wall forms part of the curtilage of the Rothe House complex.
Bantry House is a historic house with gardens in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland. Originally built in the early 18th century, it has been owned and occupied by the White family (formerly Earls of Bantry) since the mid-18th century. Opened to the public since the 1940s, the house, estate and gardens are a tourist destination in West Cork.
Bargy Castle is a Norman fortress near the village of Tomhaggard in the Barony of Bargy, County Wexford, Ireland, some 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south-west of Wexford town. The name Bargy derives from Ui Bhairrche, the name of a local tribe. The building is a square keep to which two wings have been added at right angles during the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. The keep itself is in good condition, having been renovated several times.
Jigginstown Castle is a ruined 17th-century house and National Monument near Naas, County Kildare, Ireland. It was constructed in the late 1630s when Ireland was under the reign of Charles I (1625–1649). At the time it was one of the largest buildings in Ireland, and the first to be constructed of red brick said to have been imported from Holland: the plans provided for pavement and columns of Kilkenny marble. Jigginstown Castle was built on the periphery of an area known as The Pale, which was on the outskirts of Dublin. It was an area which was guarded on its outskirts by the English plantation settlers to protect valuables and livestock. The castle has also been previously known as Siggingstown Castle. Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the 1630s, in his time the most powerful figure in Ireland, was responsible for the construction. His intention was for the castle to be a place where the King could reside on royal visits to Ireland. The downfall and execution for treason of Lord Strafford in 1641 meant that the house was never completed, and it was largely destroyed during the civil strife of the 1640s. According to Strafford's biographer Veronica Wedgwood, the ruins were still visible in the 1950s. The basement and castle's ground floor still stand to this day.
Camden Fort Meagher is a coastal defence fortification close to Crosshaven, County Cork, Ireland. Together with similar structures at Fort Mitchell (Spike Island), Fort Davis (Whitegate), and Templebreedy Battery (also close to Crosshaven), the fort was built to defend the mouth of Cork Harbour. Though originally constructed in the 16th century, the current structures of the fort date to the 1860s. Originally named Fort Camden and operated by the British Armed Forces, the fort (along with other Treaty Port installations) was handed-over to the Irish Defence Forces in 1938. Renamed Fort Meagher in honour of Thomas Francis Meagher, it remained an Irish military installation until 1989 when the Irish Army handed the fort over to Cork County Council. It remained largely overgrown until 2010 when a group of local volunteers began restoration and development of the fort for heritage and tourism purposes. The fort was renamed Camden Fort Meagher and is now open seasonally to visitors, with exhibits on the fort's Brennan torpedo installation (the world's first "practical guided weapon").
Downhill House was a mansion built in the late 18th century for Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry (popularly known as 'the Earl-Bishop'), at Downhill, County Londonderry. Much of the building was destroyed by fire in 1851 before being rebuilt in the 1870s. It fell into disrepair after the Second World War. Downhill House is now part of the National Trust property of Downhill Demesne and Mussenden Temple.
Dún Fearbhaí (pronounced [ˌd̪ˠuːnˠ ˈfʲaɾˠəwiː]) is a stone ringfort (cashel) and national monument located on Inishmaan, one of the Aran Islands, Ireland.
Ned's Point Fort is one of several Napoleonic batteries built along the shores of Lough Swilly in county Donegal, to defend the north west of Ireland. It was part of a scheme to fortify Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle against French Invasion during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. It is situated on Ned's Point, near the once important naval town of Buncrana, and its current form largely dates to works completed between 1812 and 1813. It comprised a rectangular blockhouse mounting two guns and a supporting battery mounting four guns. The fort is surrounded by a ditch. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars the defences were neglected and not updated. In 1874, the fort was armed with two 5.5-inch Howitzers in the tower and four 24 Pounder smooth bore guns in the main battery. It was remodeled in the 1890s as a battery with two 6-inch guns on hydropneumatic mountings. This included a central underground magazine complex and the height of the tower or blockhouse was also reduced. In addition two practice batteries were constructed for six 64 Pounder guns and four 5-inch Breech Loading (BL) guns. In 1905 it was recommended by the Owen Committee that the fort be disarmed. This was completed by 1907, and no armament was listed at the fort in a report dated to 1913. The fort remains substantially intact, along with the practice batteries. Parts of the site were restored by Buncrana Town Council in the 1990s, and subject to some additional restoration as of 2012. While there are a number of walking routes in the area, the fort itself is not open to the public.
Avondale House is a Georgian house and the birthplace and home of Charles Stewart Parnell in Avondale, County Wicklow, Ireland. It is set in the Avondale Forest Park, spanning over 2 km2 (490 acres) of land, approximately 1.5 km from the nearby town of Rathdrum. The river Avonmore flows through the park on its way towards the Irish Sea. The house is now a museum.
Dripsey Castle is a country house in the townland of Carrignamuck, situated 3.3 km (2.1 mi) north-east of Coachford village and 2.5 km (1.6 mi) north-west of Dripsey village. The house was built, c. 1740, to replace the earlier 15th-century Carrignamuck Tower House.