Pallas Castle

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Pallas Castle
Native name
Caisleán na Pailíse (Irish)
Castles of Connacht, Pallas, Galway - geograph.org.uk - 1543456.jpg
Type tower house
LocationPallas, Tynagh,
County Galway, Ireland
Coordinates 53°07′36″N8°21′44″W / 53.126574°N 8.362318°W / 53.126574; -8.362318
Builtc. 1500
OwnerState
Ireland adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Pallas Castle in Ireland
Official namePallas Castle
Reference no.462 [1]

Pallas Castle is a tower house and National Monument located in County Galway, Ireland. [2] [3] [4] According to visitgalway.ie, it is "one of the best-preserved examples of a tower house in Ireland", surrounded as it is by a bawn wall with four corner towers and a gatehouse. [5]

Contents

Location

Pallas Castle is located to the west of Pallas House, 2.8 km (1.7 mi) south of Tynagh, 1.6 km (1 mile) north of the Duniry River. [6]

History

The castle was built by the Burkes c. 1500. [7] In 1574 it was owned by Jonyck Fitzthomas Burke, but after the restoration it passed to the Nugent Earls of Westmeath. Near the tower at the west end, there is a rectangular flanker, an 18th-century malt house and the remains of a large 17th-century gabled house. [8] Some buildings in the southwest corner probably date from the 19th century. The Burke family name lives on with the Burke family descendants living down the road and in surrounding areas.

Building

Armorial plaque Castles of Connacht, Pallas, Galway (3) - geograph.org.uk - 1543475.jpg
Armorial plaque

The tower is 5 storeys high, with the third storey vaulted. The thick end wall contains a tier of mural chambers and a winding stair.

There are a number of good fireplaces preserved on the various floors.

The fourth floor has attractive mullioned windows framed in arches. The roof was still thatched in the early part of the 20th century, the bottom being covered with stone flags for protection.

The tower is surrounded by a well-preserved bawn, entered via a two-storey gatehouse. The bawn has two towers with turrets at each corner, and has internal steps and parapets. [9] [10] [11]

References

  1. "National Monuments of County Galway in State Care" (PDF). heritageireland.ie. National Monument Service. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  2. "The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland: Adapted to the New Poor-law, Franchise, Municipal and Ecclesiastical Arrangements, and Compiled with a Special Reference to the Lines of Railroad and Canal Communication, as Existing in 1814-45". A. Fullarton and Company. 1 January 1846 via Google Books.
  3. Ireland Guide. Gill & MacMillan, Limited. 1 January 2000. ISBN   9780717128877 via Google Books.
  4. Ronnes, Hanneke (1 January 2006). Architecture and Elite Culture in the United Provinces, England and Ireland, 1500-1700. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN   9789085553618 via Google Books.
  5. "Pallas Castle". visitgalway.ie. 1 May 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  6. "Gothic Past - Pallas Castle, Tynagh, County Galway".
  7. "Pallas Castle or Tower House". January 1903.
  8. "Pallas Castle, County Galway".
  9. "Pallas Castle Tynagh Loughrea County Galway Ireland".
  10. Admin (15 August 2013). "Beside Pallas Karting & Paintball - Pallas Castle".
  11. "Local Guide ||| Ireland Reaching Out".

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