History, why it matters, and the nearest castle hotel to base yourself in — for every notable castle in Ireland. Every recorded site, famous or obscure, has its own page too — browse by county below.
Traditional seat of the kings of Munster from the 4th century, the Rock was gifted to the Church in 1101 and today contains a round tower (c.1100), the Romanesque Cormac's Chapel (1127–1134) and a 13th-century cathedral, making it one of Ireland's most complete medieval ecclesiastical sites.
Ordered built by King John in 1213, the stone castle was held by the Butlers of Ormond from 1315 until falling to Cromwell in 1650.
A rare example of a stone castle built by a Gaelic Irish chief rather than Anglo-Norman settlers, located half a mile southwest of Newtownstewart and named after Henry Aimhréidh O'Neill ('Harry Avery'), who died in 1392.
A ruined fortification near Magheralamfield overlooking Lough Neagh, built during the early Plantation period as part of English efforts to secure Tyrone; its remains today consist of ruined walls on a hilltop site with wide views over the lough..
Believed to stand on the site of a former Viking stronghold, Ballygunner combines surviving medieval and 17th-century fabric with later Georgian and Victorian alterations.
Established by Prince John in 1185 at the mouth of the Colligan River, this polygonal shell keep with corner and gate towers guarded the entrance to Dungarvan town.
Built in 1185 by Prince John on the site of an earlier monastery, Lismore later passed through owners including Sir Walter Raleigh and Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, before the Cavendish family (Dukes of Devonshire) acquired it in 1753.
Built by the Anglo-Normans on the site of an earlier Viking fortification, Reginald's Tower is reputed to be the oldest urban civic building in Ireland still in continuous use, having served as mint, prison and military store over 800 years.
Held by the Fitzgerald family for centuries on Little Island in the River Suir, the medieval tower house was absorbed into a new Gothic-style mansion built in 1895 for Gerald Purcell-Fitzgerald.
The original Delvin Castle was built in 1181 by Hugh de Lacy for the Nugent family, Barons of Delvin, making it one of the oldest recorded castle sites in Westmeath.
Built around 1780 by Sir Benjamin Chapman near Clonmellon, Killua Castle was the ancestral home of the Chapman family, one of whom, Sir Thomas Chapman, was the father of T.E.
Seat of the Pakenham family, Earls of Longford, since the 1650s, Tullynally was progressively Gothicised in the early 19th century by architects Francis Johnston and James Shiel into what is reputed to be the largest castle in Ireland still lived in as a family home.
Construction began in the late 1190s under the Prendergast family, with the castle taking its present four-drum-tower form after being rebuilt in the 1580s.
Built around 1220 by William Marshal on the site of the former stronghold of Diarmait Mac Murchada, King of Leinster, whose 1169 invitation to Strongbow and the Normans began the Norman invasion of Ireland.
Incorporating an earlier medieval tower house of the Esmonde family, Johnstown Castle was extensively remodelled in the 19th century into a romantic Gothic Revival mansion set in ornamental lakeside gardens near Wexford town.
Built by the Devereux family, a Norman lineage, in the 15th century near Rosslare in south Wexford, Rathmacknee is one of the best-preserved tower houses in the county, retaining its bawn wall and corner turret largely intact.
Built by the Laffan (Laffin) family in the late 1400s at the small fishing harbour of Slade on the Hook Peninsula, this well-preserved tower house complex sits directly above the tiny quay, evoking its role as a merchant and fishing stronghold.
Standing on a site with 13th-century origins near Bree, Enniscorthy, Wilton Castle was burned to the ground by armed men during the Irish Civil War in March 1923 and lay a roofless ruin for over 80 years.
One of only two surviving 'hall house' style castles in Ireland, built on the slopes of Kindlestown Hill near Delgany, possibly by Walter de Bendeville.