Ballydonnellan Castle

In undulating grassland within the former Ballydonnellan estate. A poorly preserved tower (N-S 11.5m) built in 1412 by 'Tuly Odonelan' according to the foundation stone which is now in the yard of Aughrim National School. It was subsequently enlarged and remodelled in the 18th C when it was transformed into the flanking W wing of the adjacent (now level) 17th-C house (GA098-028001-); a similar wing was built on E side to balance it (Bence-Jones 1978, 20). Apart from W wall which is four storeys high, only the returns of N and S walls survive. A robbed-out doorway with brick insertions, in N wall, leads to a ground-floor chamber. A stone vault exists between ground/1st floors, Robbed-out rectangular windows are visible on 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors of W wall, and also a rectangular chimney stack embellished with two string courses. (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 1, 647-8) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Date of upload: 05 August 2010

Ballydonnellan Castle, Ballydonnellan East was built in 1412 by Tuly Odonelan, as noted on a foundation stone now located at Aughrim National School. It is remembered as a medieval tower house associated with the O'Donovan family, reflecting early 15th-century Gaelic-Irish landholding in the region.