Kinlough 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

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the yew trees") is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Coun ...

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 ...

. Kinlough Church, part of the National monument, is nearby.

Location

Kinlough Castle is located southwest of

Shrule Shrule (, also anglicised to ''Shruel'', usage deprecated) is a village on the N84 road in County Mayo in Ireland. The county boundary between Mayo and County Galway follows the course of the Black River on the south side of the village. The r ...

, on the west bank of the Black River.

History

The tower is thought to have been constructed in the 13th century AD, although the additional two storeys with corner

fireplace A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the desig ...

s that were subsequently added to it, date from a 1574 remodelling by Sir John MacOliver Burke. There are loops in the battered base, and the entrance has a drawbar slot. The castle was

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...

d to the

Blake Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presum ...

s in 1629, and leased by them to John Darcy in 1668. The present tower house was built in the 16th century. In a map of 1584 it is described as a " MacWilliam House". "The MacWilliam Eighter", who was then Sir John FitzOliver Burke, lived there in 1574. In 1618 Sir Richard FitzOliver Burke was the

tenant Tenant may refer to: Real estate *Tenant, the holder of a leasehold estate in real estate *Tenant-in-chief, in feudal land law *Tenement (law), the holder of a legal interest in real estate *Tenant farmer *Anchor tenant, one of the larger stores ...

and his son, Walter,

d it to Sir Valentine Blake of

Menlough Menlough () is a village in northeast County Galway in Ireland. Located 35 km from Galway, 27 km from Tuam, 30 km from Ballinasloe, and 20 km from Athenry, it forms part of the civil parish of Killascobe. History Historical ...

, in 1628. Sir Thomas Blake leased it to John Darcy in 1668 and Pierce Joyce purchased the lands in 1852.

Description

Kinlough Castle is four storeys high, with

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...

s at the east and west walls, but no

crenellation A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

s. There are traces of a

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

in the west wall. There are also three

chimney stack A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are ...

Wildlife

Today it is a nesting site for the

common swift The common swift (''Apus apus'') is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the barn swallow or house martin but somewhat larger, though not stemming from those passerine species, being in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between t ...

(''Apus apus'').

References

National Monuments in County Mayo Castles in County Mayo {{Ireland-castle-stub