Oranmore Castle is a castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 in Oranmore

Oranmore

Oranmore is a village in County Galway on the outskirts of Galway city in Ireland. With its major housing developments, Oranmore is rapidly becoming a part of Galway's commuter or suburban belt...

, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

, in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

History

Oranmore Castle was most likely built by the Earl of Clanricarde

Earl of Clanricarde

Earl of Clanricarde is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland, first in 1543 and again in 1800. The former creation became extinct in 1916 while the 1800 creation is still extant and held by the Marquess of Sligo since 1916....

 in the 16th century, possibly on top of an older castle. The Clanricardes

Clanricarde

Clanricarde was a term meaning both a territory and a title in Ireland between the 13th and early 20th centuries.-Territory:The territory, in what is now County Galway, Ireland, stretched from the barony of County Clare in the north-west along the borders of County Mayo, to the River Shannon in the...

, a notable family from Galway, used it as a stronghold. In March 1642 the town, Oranmore, joined Confederate Ireland

Confederate Ireland

Confederate Ireland refers to the period of Irish self-government between the Rebellion of 1641 and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649. During this time, two-thirds of Ireland was governed by the Irish Catholic Confederation, also known as the "Confederation of Kilkenny"...

 in a rebellion, against which the owners of the castle, the Marquess

Marquess

A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...

 and the fifth Earl

Earl

An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...

 Clanricarde, held out. Clanricarde supplied the Fort of Galway from the sea until 1643, when, without the Marquess’s sanction, Captain Willoughby Governor of Galway surrendered.
While ownership was temporarily lost, the 6th Earl regained possession, and in 1666 leased the castle to Walter Athy, whose descendents kept control of Oranmore until 1853.

Renovations

The castle was reroofed after Lady Leslie purchased it in 1947 for £200, as it had fallen into disrepair. Lady Leslie’s daughter added a two-story wing. Unfortunately, less than twenty years later in 1964 the castle was set alight to provide heat for the winter, and the new roof - which some viewed as 'outrageous' - was reduced to ashes.

Layout

The castle, a rectangular towerhouse, has four stories, a square staircase turret, and gunloops on the bottom floor.

Visiting

The castle is open for tourists to visit in May. It is also open between the days of 1–27 July; 4–31 August, and 25–30 September. The hours of operation are between 2pm and 6pm. It is closed Sundays.

Other

Oranmore Castle was featured in the 23 March 2001 episode of The Scariest Places on Earth.

External links

• Tourism Information
• http://www.advertiser.ie/galwayfirst/article/6217