33 real castles you can actually sleep in, verified one by one — turrets, tower houses and centuries of stone, all bookable through IMPT.
Site of an O'Flaherty castle built c.1546 on an island, once the stronghold of pirate queen Grace O'Malley's husband; the present castle was built in 1756 by the Martin family, later home of 'Humanity Dick' Martin.
Built by the Kirwan family in 1648, described as the last fortified mansion built west of the Shannon; later home to the Blake family until 1947.
Medieval castle founded by the Anglo-Norman de Burgo (Burke) family in 1228, later held by the Guinness family from 1852, converted into a hotel in 1939.
A 19th-century neo-Gothic manor (built 1825-1831) on the ancestral Gore family estate, later adopting 'Castle' branding; features a basement museum with armoury and reputed Grace O'Malley bed.
Originally Castle Tenison, built c.1820 and expanded in the 1880s with a baronial tower by the Earl of Kingston; fell derelict mid-20th century before restoration.
14th-century fortified outpost of the McDonagh clan, granted to the Cooper family in 1663 and expanded over succeeding centuries; the estate later hosted a major astronomical observatory.
Built in 1625 as a garrison in the riverside village of Clonegal, long home to the Durdin-Robertson family.
Site of a castle built in 1172 by the Norman Hugh de Lacy near the site of the 1014 Battle of Clontarf; the present building is a Victorian reconstruction dating to 1837 designed by William Vitruvius Morrison.
Held by the Luttrell family for over 300 years until 1811, then bought by bookseller Luke White; a genuine castle with only seven owners across 600 years, site of David and Victoria Beckham's 1999 wedding.
Built in 1288 by Nicholas Barby, one of Ireland's oldest continuously habited castles, later extended with Elizabethan and Victorian wings; owned by Eric Clapton from 1979-1987.
Built in 1180 by Hugh de Lacy for Sir Walter de Riddlesford; the surviving keep is largely 15th-century and it was the principal seat of the FitzGerald Earls of Kildare for around seven centuries.
Built from 1712-1726 by William Flower, later Viscount Ashbrook, as a pre-Palladian family home with formal gardens.
Built around 1660 by Sir Henry Bellingham, ancestral home of the Bellingham family until the 1950s; converted into a hotel from the late 1950s onward.
A genuine castle overlooking the River Boyne, home of the Conyngham family and internationally known as a rock concert venue (U2, Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses among others).
First castle at the site destroyed in 1209 and rebuilt by the Normans in 1213; extended into its current neo-Gothic form in 1811 by the Pain Brothers, burned by Republican forces in 1922 and rebuilt in 1928.
A fortified tower has stood on the site since at least 1247; remodelled into its current castellated Gothic form in 1837 by architect Daniel Robertson, then burned by arsonists in 1923 and later restored.
A genuine late-medieval Gaelic tower house dating from the 15th century, surrounded by a 17th-century bawn wall, in the Burren.
16th-century-origin castle, ancestral seat of the O'Briens of Dromoland (descended from Brian Boru), rebuilt after the family submitted to Henry VIII.
A genuine 15th-century tower house castle in the Burren area of County Clare, historically a MacNamara clan stronghold.
The original Castlemartyr castle was built in 1210 by the Knights Templar and later owned by Sir Walter Raleigh and Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork; a 17th-century manor house was built by the Boyle family adjacent to the castle ruin, and that manor is the resort's hotel building.
15th-century castle, chief garrison of the Fitzgerald Earls of Desmond; the current structure dates to 1721 after the earlier castle passed to the Blennerhassett family, and it became a hotel in 1965.
A sprawling 19th-century Gothic Revival mansion built as the seat of the Oliver-Gascoigne family, with 110 rooms and Ireland's largest private wine cellars.
A historic Irish castle with parts dating from the 12th century, in countryside close to Adare.
Seat of the FitzGerald Knights of Glin for roughly 700 years on the south bank of the Shannon, now the home of Catherine Fitzgerald.
A historic Irish castle furnished as a family home with antiques and portraits, set in secluded grounds in west Limerick.
Castle dating from 1170, owned by the Duke of Devonshire's family (Cavendish) since 1753, built on the site of a 12th-century fortification granted to King John.
16th-century stone castle built by the Fitzgerald family (granted the land in the 12th century), later enhanced in the 19th century with Gothic wings; sits on a private 310-acre island reached only by car ferry.
Built in 1625 by Scottish settler James Shaw, used during the Irish Civil Wars and 1641 rebellion; the only 17th-century building in Northern Ireland still in continuous use as a residence today.
Built in 1795 on the site of an earlier round-tower castle (Cormey Castle), constructed in a mix of neo-Norman and Gothick styles.
Castle site dating to 1474 associated with the O'Donnell clan; the standing building was rebuilt in 1861 after earlier structures were destroyed, then gutted by fire in 1939 before a full restoration reopened it as a hotel in 2007.
The 'Narrow Water Castle' estate name covers both a medieval Norman tower castle ruin by Carlingford Lough (no guest accommodation) and a separate 1830s castellated family mansion on the same estate, within which self-catering apartments (including one in the original 1680s 'Mount Hall' core) are let to guests.
19th-century Gothic Revival castle on Upper Lough Erne, home of the Earls of Erne for over 350 years, now within a National Trust estate.
An earlier castle built in 1608 by Sir Thomas Ridgeway was bought by Bishop Leslie in 1665; the present castle was rebuilt in 1870-71 by Sir John Leslie, and the family still lives on the 1,000-acre estate.
Doing good is the business. Every castle stay booked through Ireland Castle Hotels funds one verified tonne of carbon removal, same room, same price.
Book with purpose →