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Dunguaire Castle

Dunguaire Castle

West Ireland | County Galway

Dunguaire Castle is a well-preserved tower house located beside of the seaport village of Kinvara, in the south-west County Galway. Is almost completely surrounded by waters of Galway Bay, except of the narrow causeway joining it to the mainland. Its picturesque location makes it one of the most photographed castles in Ireland. Dunguaire Castle was built about 1520 by O'Heyne family, Gaelic chieftains of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne, a kingdom located in what is now the south of County Galway. Is believed that the castle was built on the site of an earlier fort (dun), the seat of the seventh-century king of Connacht, Guaire, and the name of the castle comes from his name. In Irish 'Dun Guaire' means: 'the Fort of Guaire'. In 1924, the tower house was purchased by a famous surgeon and well known literary figure, Oliver St John Gogarty, a friend of W.B. Yeats. He began renovating and modernizing the castle, trying to transform it into a residential house but he never moved in. Restoration was completed by Christabel, Lady Ampthill who bought Dunguaire Castle in the 1950s. From the 1970s, it passed into the hands of Shannon Heritage and is open to the public as a tourist attraction and is a venue for medieval banquets where guests can feel the spirit of the Middle Ages.

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    • -8.926096
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Photos from Dunguaire Castle