Location: Ballymote, County Sligo Map
Constructed: c. 1300
Ballymote Castle is situated on the outskirts of
Ballymote in County Sligo in Ireland. Ballymote Castle was
constructed in 14th century. Ballymote castle has a large main body.
This castle is one of the most symmetrical castles in Ireland. The
castle like architecture of the castle Belmarsh in Anglesey (Wales),
built by the king of England Edward Longshanks. The entrance to the
castle was protected by a high massive gate that was located in the
Northern wall of the castle, the gate had double D-shaped towers.
The outer walls of the castle have not survived. The interior rooms
of the castle are 320 square feet. Preserved (partially) three round
towers with four corners of the castle. There are also towers in the
middle of the West and East walls. It was planned to build another
gate with a small square tower, but they were never built. The
construction of the castle was not completed in connection with
events of 1317, when the castle was stormed by the Irish clan O
Connor.
The walls of the castle are 3M (10ft) thick and around the perimeter
have been reinforced with 6 towers. Passages gave access to towers
and intermediate walls at different heights to protect the castle.
No traces of internal houses in the castle were found. Local legends
say that there were underground passages that connected the castle
with the Church Emlayfad and Franciscan Abbey, but such legends were
composed about every castle in Ireland and they are unlikely to be
true. "Red count" in addition to the lock built the road from Boyle
(County Roscommon) to Calluna. This road was known under the name of
Bahar Corran and the Road of the red Graph.
Ballymote castle was built in 1300 by the feudal Lord of Norman
origin Richard og de Burgh - II Earl of Ulster, who was known as the
"Red Earl" in order to protect the conquered lands in what is now
County Sligo. The castle is built next to the older castle, which
was built in the Motte-and-Bailey style." In 1317, the castle was
captured by the Irish clan o'connor, who conquered their ancestral
lands in the Norman feudal lords. In 1347, the castle was captured
by the Irish clan Mac Diarmada during the wars between the Irish
clans. By 1381, the castle had been taken over by the macdonagh clan
of Ireland.
In 1561, the castle belonged to Tadg Mac Dermot, the last king of
the Kingdom of Moylurg. The castle was then retaken by the clan
o'connor in 1571. Then the king of England, Scotland and Ireland
James And confirmed that these lands and the castle owned by the
clan O Connor. But for a short time in 1577 the castle was captured
by English troops. In 1584, the castle was owned by "Lord Connacht"
Richard Bingham. For a long time the castle was abandoned, not
repaired and gradually turned into a ruin.
In 1588, the Irish clans o'connor, O'garth, O'dowd attacked and
sacked the castle. The English surrendered the castle to the Irish
clan macdonagh in 1598. After that, Hugh o'donnell the Red took
possession of the castle. One source indicates that he bought the
castle for £ 400 and 300 cows. It was from this castle that he went
to the battle of Kinsale. In 1602, the castle was captured by the
English army. The castle was already in poor condition. In 1633, the
castle briefly belonged to the Taaffe family. During the rebellion
for Irish independence in 1641, the castle was seized by rebels. But
in 1652 the castle was captured by Oliver Cromwell's troops. During
the so-called Vilyamitskih (Yakobitskih) wars between Catholics and
Protestants-supporters of the Catholic king James II and Protestant
king William III of orange castle captured captain Terence Mac don,
was a supporter of James II. But in 1690 the castle was surrounded
by the English troops of William III led by Lord Granard. The castle
began to fire artillery. The castle fell, then the fortifications
were finally destroyed, the castle turned into ruins.
In the twenty-FIRST century, the office of public works in Ireland
carried out a partial restoration of the castle. Now the castle can
be visited by tourists by prior arrangement of the society that
deals with the castle.
The ruined castle is on the R296 Ballymote to Tubbercurry trunk road, opposite Ballymote Railway Station and next to the Catholic Church. To obtain the key for a small fee, contact the Enterprise Center on Grattan Street. The center is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and often at weekends during the summer. Access to the ruined castle is through the grounds of the Ballymote Community Nursing Unit.