Castle Carra is a
hall house
The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples wer ...
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 Mayo
County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...
in the west of Ireland.
Location
Castle Carra is located west of
Carnacon
Carnacon or Carrownacon () is a village, townland and area in central County Mayo, Ireland. It is situated about from Castlebar, and is about from Claremorris and Ballinrobe.
Village
Carnacon is situated on the shores of a mayfly fishing lake, ...
, on the east bank of
. It lies on the edge of Black Hole, the deepest part of the lake.
History
Castle Carra was built by
Adam de Staunton (Staundun), an Anglo-Norman subject of the
de Burgo, in the 13th century. The
plinth
A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...
,
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 ...
, outbuilding and gateways were added by the MacEvilly (Mac an Mhilidh).
The castle was surrendered to the Crown in the 1570s and granted to Captain William Bowen, who strengthened the bawn with a circular flanker with
gunloops facing inland.
Sir Roebuck Lynch's lands were seized by the
Cromwellians and he was compensated by lands at Castle Carra during the early seventeenth century. It passed to
Sir Henry Lynch, 3rd Baronet in the 1660s, and his descendants held it until the 19th century.
Building
Castle Carra is a rectangular
hall house
The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples wer ...
.
References
National monuments in County Mayo
Castles in County Mayo
{{Ireland-castle-stub