Carrickkildavnet Castle or Kildavnet 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, in order to command and defend strate ...

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

Achill Island Achill Island (; ga, Acaill, Oileán Acla) in County Mayo is the largest of the Irish isles, and is situated off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It has a population of 2,594. Its area is . Achill is attached to the mainland by ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Location

Carrickkildavnet Castle is located in the southeast corner of

, across from the

Corraun Peninsula The Corraun Peninsula, also spelt Currane ( Irish:''An Corrán'' ), is a peninsula in County Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland. It extends out from the mainland towards Achill Island. Thoroughfares on the peninsula include the Great Western Gre ...

. This is an important strategic site, protecting the mouth of

Achill Sound ''Gob an Choire'' or ''Gob a' Choire'' (English name: Achill Sound), formerly anglicised as ''Gubacurra'', is a Gaeltacht village in County Mayo, Ireland. It lies on the east coast of Achill Island and is the first settlement one reaches af ...

and the passage that connects

Clew Bay Clew Bay (; ga, Cuan Mó) is a natural ocean bay in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland. It contains Ireland's best example of sunken drumlins. The bay is overlooked by Croagh Patrick to the south and the Nephin Range mountains of North Mayo. C ...

with

Blacksod Bay Blacksod Bay ( ga, Cuan an Fhóid Duibh) is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in Erris, north County Mayo, Ireland. The long and wide bay is bounded on its western side by the Mullet Peninsula. Its eastern side includes Kiltane Parish, which ext ...

History

Carrickkildavnet castle was built c. 1429 by the Ó Máille (O'Malley),

Kings of Umaill The Kings of Umaill were rulers of Umaill, a kingdom or territory located in the west of what is now County Mayo, Ireland. Its earliest rulers were the semi-historical Tuath mhac nUmhoir. The Umaill, its early historical rulers, were renamed ...

. It was later the stronghold of Gráinne Ní Mháille (Grace O'Malley, c. 1530 – c. 1603), the famous "pirate queen." Her other strongholds were at

Rockfleet Castle Rockfleet Castle, or Carrickahowley Castle ( Irish: ''Carraig an Chabhlaigh''), is a tower house near Newport in County Mayo, Ireland. It was built in the mid-fifteenth century, and is most famously associated with Grace O'Malley Grace O'M ...

(on

) and

Clare Island Clare Island ( or ''Oileán Chliara''), also historically Inishcleer, is a mountainous island guarding the entrance to Clew Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. Historically part of the kingdom of Umhaill, it is famous as the home of the 15th century p ...

Building

It is a

of four storeys' height. It is vaulted above the first floor and a hole at the corner of this vault is the only access to the higher levels, presumably for defensive reasons. Other defensive features include a mural chamber,

machicolation A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at ...

, defensive loops,

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

fortifications at the top and a ruined

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 ...

wall.

Gallery

Carrickkildavnet Castle.jpg, Castle with

and Corraun Hill beyond Carrick Kildavnet Castle - geograph.org.uk - 471756.jpg, View of the tower house

References

National Monuments in County Mayo Castles in County Mayo Tower houses in the Republic of Ireland {{Ireland-castle-stub