Aughnanure Castle

Aughnanure castle is located nearby the beautiful village of Oughterard. Built in circa 1500 by the O'Flaherty Family,  Aughnanure Castle is one of the finest tower houses in connacht.
Tower houses were the fashionable, fortified houses of the wealthy, land-owning families in the 15th and 16th centuries. Balancing on a low cliff above the banks of the Drimneen River, it was easily reached by supply boats from Lough Corrib. This was of great advantage as land transport was difficult and dangerous.

​In 1952, Peadar O'Flaherty donated the castle to the Office of Public Works (OPW) who then restored it and declared it a National Monument in 1963.

Nowadays, the castle makes for an interesting visit. The well preserved watchtower was once used  as a guard room and as a storage room for weapons.  It was built into the inner bawn wall and indicates the original location of the wall's outermost corner.

To the south of the tower house and along the western face of the larger courtyard stands the remains of the banqueting hall. Commonly found in most Irish castles, it was a less secure but more comfortable building than the heavily fortified tower house. The banqueting hall at Aughnanure was destroyed with the collapse of the natural arch over a subterranean river which flowed directly beneath it. In the east wall are windows that are richly and elaborately carved.

The tower house itself was well secured. There is only one entrance door into the tower with a guard room immediately on the right. A spiral stairway gave access to all floors, the first being living quarters and administration and the second floor being the Chieftan's main hall. If the tower house  would have been under attack, there were plenty of additional defences built into the castle. If the attacking forces would breach the only entrance door, they would immediately been confronted by another 3 doors, one on each side of the small lobby. Only the door on the left would lead to the stairway giving defenders crucial time to counterattack. But that's not all, while the confused attackers struggled to breach the doors, from above through a slit , (or murder hole) in the ceiling,  the castle defenders would pelted their vulnerable attackers with missiles or would have shot arrows.   Over the entrance are two bartizans that project providing additional defence against attackers.

Aughnanure Castle is worth a visit and allows you to step back in time. The castle is open from March to November with entrance fees as follows:

Admission:

Adult: €5.00
Group/senior: €4.00
Child/student: €3.00
Family: €13.00