Ardamullivan Castle is a

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

and

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

located in

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Location

Ardamullivan Castle is located south of

Gort Gort ( or ) is a town of around 2,800 inhabitants in County Galway in the west of Ireland. Located near the border with County Clare, the town lies between the Burren and the Slieve Aughty and is served by the R458 road (Ireland), R458 and R460 ...

and southwest of Lough Cutra.

History

Ardamullivan Castle was built in the 16th century by the Uí Sheachnasaigh (O'Shaughnessy) clan, rulers of the region known as

Cenél Áeda na hEchtge Cenél Áeda na hEchtge (also Cenél Áeda, Kenloth, Kinalethes, Kenealea, Kinelea) was a trícha cét (later a cantred, (a branch of the Uí Fiachrach Aidhne) and which was the original formation of the southern part of the barony (Ireland), bar ...

until being disposed by Cromwell's invasion (1650s). It is first mentioned after the 1567 death of

Ruaidhrí Gilla Dubh Ó Seachnasaigh Sir Roger O'Shaughnessy ( Irish: ''Ruaidhrí Gilla Dubh Ó Seachnasaigh'') (died 1569) was an Irish Knight and Chief of the Name. The son of Sir Diarmaid Ó Seachnasaigh, Ruaidhrí was described by Sir Henry Sidney as "a very obedient and ci ...

. In 1579,

Diarmaid Riabach Ó Seachnasaigh Diarmaid Riabach Ó Seachnasaigh, Chief of the Name The Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan ( Irish and Scottish Gaelic: ''fine'') in Ireland and Scotland. Ireland The ...

and his nephew John, fought each other in a dispute over the castle, which resulted in death for both. Diarmaid Riabach had previously acquired notoriety after betraying

Richard Creagh Richard Creagh (; 1523 Limerick City – December 1586, Tower of London) was an Irish Roman Catholic clergyman who was the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Along with the other Irish Catho ...

, the fugitive Catholic

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

, to the authorities. The castle was restored in the 1990s, including reroofing and plastering with lime mortar. Late medieval wall paintings were discovered on the first and fourth levels; they have been compared to those at

Abbeyknockmoy Abbeyknockmoy () is a village and parish in County Galway, Ireland. It is known for the nearby ruins of the 12th century Cistercian abbey, established with the Kings of Connacht as its benefactors. The abbey was the burial site of King Cathal ...

and

Clare Island Abbey Clare Island Abbey, officially St. Brigid's Abbey, is a former Cistercian monastery and National Monument located in Clare Island, County Mayo, Ireland. Location Clare Island Abbey is located in the centre of the south part of Clare Island, n ...

. Depicted is a bishop, a stag hunt,

Saint Christopher Saint Christopher (, , ; ) is venerated by several Christian denominations. According to these traditions, he was a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Empire, Roman emperor Decius (), or alternatively under the emperor Maximin ...

, a Passion cycle, and St Michael weighing souls on Judgement Day.

Description

The tower house six storeys. Part of the original attacking wall remains. There are traces of

bartizan A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging turret projecting from the walls of late-medieval and early-modern fortifications from the early 14th c ...

s on the NE and SW corners and along the south wall. Other features include a

machicolation In architecture, a machicolation () is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key ...

murder hole A murder hole or meurtrière is a hole in the ceiling of a gateway or passageway in a fortification through which the defenders could shoot, throw or pour harmful substances or objects such as rocks, arrows, scalding water, hot sand, quicklime, ...

, many slit windows, fireplaces and a slopstone. Traces of walls around the castle may be part of the original

bawn A bawn is the defensive wall surrounding an Irish tower house. It is the anglicised version of the Irish word ''bábhún'' (sometimes spelt ''badhún''), possibly meaning "cattle-stronghold" or "cattle-enclosure".See alternative traditional s ...

References

External links

* National monuments in County Galway Castles in County Galway {{Ireland-castle-stub