Castle hotel
Durrow
Castle Durrow
An 18th-century country house with castle styling, restored and reopened as a hotel in 1998 by Peter and Shelley Stokes.
Worth the detour
Notable castles to visit
13thc.
Notable castle
Lea Castle (in ruins)
Built in the 1260s by Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Baron of Offaly, on the banks of the River Barrow near Portarlington, Lea Castle was later seized and held by the Gaelic O'Dempsey clan during the medieval Irish resurgence.
15thc.
Notable castle
Ballaghmore Castle
Built by the Gaelic Mac Giolla Phádraig (FitzPatrick) chieftains of Upper Ossory, Ballaghmore is decorated with carved Sheela na gig figures on its walls, a rarity for a tower house of this scale.
9thc.
Notable castle
Rock of Dunamase (Dunamase Castle)
A rocky outcrop rising 46 metres above the surrounding plain, first a Gaelic ringfort recorded as sacked by Vikings in 843, then rebuilt as a stone castle after 1170 by Strongbow following his marriage to Aoife, daughter of the King of Leinster.