What is recorded here

Ballylee Castle stands in County Galway as a ruined tower house, its stones stripped of roof and purpose but still vertical against the sky. It may have served as a fortified home or a boundary marker for a local family, though no name or date survives to confirm the arrangement. The absence of a recorded owner does not diminish the structure; it invites imagination about the hands that built it and the lives that moved through its chambers.

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To access available information for research purposes please make an appointment in advance with the Archive Unit (open Fridays 10.00 am – 5.00 pm), Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, The Custom House, Dublin 1 D01W6XO or email NMarchive@housing.gov.ie.

Ballylee Castle is a 13th-century tower house built by the de Burgo family, later held by the Fitzgeralds, and is associated with W.B. Yeats, who lived nearby and wrote about the area. It is remembered for its literary connections and well-preserved medieval architecture.

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