Castle Forbes

Castle Forbes sits on the banks of the River Shannon near Newtownforbes in County Longford, the ancestral seat of the Forbes family and one of Ireland's longest-inhabited elite residences. The castle's story begins in 1623, when Captain Arthur Forbes received a land grant as part of the Plantation of Longford, establishing himself and his family in this strategic location overlooking the Shannon. What he built was an 'L'-shaped house in 1624—the core structure that remains standing today, though it has been substantially altered and expanded over the nearly four centuries since.

Castle Forbes survived one of Irish history's most violent passages: the 1641 Irish Rebellion brought a devastating siege to the fortress, an ordeal from which it emerged damaged but ultimately enduring. The 18th century saw careful modifications, but the castle's most dramatic transformation came in the early 19th century under architect John Hargrave, who remodelled the structure between 1819 and 1830 in the prevailing Gothic Revival style, cladding the original fortress in romantic battlements and pointed arches. Further refinements followed from architect James Joseph McCarthy in the 1860s–1880s, and restoration work by William Foster in the 1920s, each generation of the Forbes family reshaping their inheritance to reflect contemporary taste. Today, the limestone and granite structure stands as a Gothic Revival mansion of considerable ambition, set in landscaped grounds that have defined the estate's character for centuries.

What is most striking about Castle Forbes is not its individual architectural moments but its continuity: the same family has held the title Earl of Granard and inhabited this fortress for over 400 years, making it one of Ireland's most genuinely lived-in castles. Unlike many Irish country houses that passed through numerous hands or fell into ruin, Forbes has remained a family home, its rooms shaped by generations of personal inhabitation rather than museum curation. The demesne even houses a small airport, a thoroughly modern addition to this ancient seat. For visitors, this private nature means access is necessarily limited, but it is this very privacy—the sense that life continues within these walls much as it has for centuries—that gives Castle Forbes its particular character and appeal.