What is recorded here

Ballymarkahan Castle stands in ruins, a tower house reduced to ghosts and gaps. It is not clear whether it guarded a family, a road or a rivalry, but the shape still suggests pride. Stone towers were built to be seen, remembered and defended. That much remains true even when the name fades.

See attached document with details from Risteárd Ua Cróinín and Martin Breen, The Castles and Tower-houses of Co. Clare (unpublished report). Uploaded courtesy of R. Ua Cróinín and M. Breen. Date of upload: 15 December 2014

Ballymarkahan Castle was built in the late 16th or early 17th century by a member of the local Ó Briain (O'Brien) family, who were Gaelic lords of the region. It is remembered as an example of a defensive tower house constructed during a period of political instability in west Clare.

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