Castle in ruins

Situated in a gently undulating field in pasture. Named ‘Castle (in ruins)’ on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map and ‘Castle (site of)’ on the 1922 edition with hachures indicating the mound on which it stood. Known as Cullaun Castle, Cullaun townland and Lough Cullaunyheeda lying immediately to the E. Few historical details are available but it was apparently built by either Seán or Eoghan McNamara (Ua Cróinín and Breen 1997). Murrough O’Brien, in his will of 1551 leaves the castle of Cullaun to his son Donough O’Brien of Lemeneagh Castle (ibid.). By 1618 the castle was in ruins and had passed to his third cousin Donough O’Brien, 4th Earl of Thomond. An inquisition of that date records Donough conveying to ‘Maurice Mulconrey and his heir, the ruined castle and lands of Cullane…’ (ibid.). On inspection in 1992 extensive land reclamation was taking place and a large part of the mound had been destroyed. Large quantities of stone from the mound had been piled up, including quoins, window jambs and a sillstone with a pivot hole (SMR file). In 2004 a large chunk of mortared masonry (possibly portion of a collapsed ceiling vault) was noted on site and the mound was described as 15 in diameter and 3m high (Ua Cróinín and Breen 1997). On the same occasion a chisel-dressed stone was noted in a nearby wall. An inspection in 2019 found that all the above loose stone had been removed and a largely grassed-over mound remained. The following items have been uploaded: CL043-017002-_01.pdf Details from Risteárd Ua Cróinín and Martin Breen, 1997, The castles and tower-houses of Co. Clare (unpublished report). Uploaded courtesy of R. Ua Cróinín and M. Breen. CL043-017001-_01.jpg View of mound from NW. CL043-017001-_02.jpg View from SW. Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 18 December 2019 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 4/1992).

Culla was a 12th-century Norman motte-and-bailey castle built by the de Lacy family, who were key Anglo-Norman settlers in Ireland. It is remembered as part of the early medieval frontier settlements that helped establish Norman control in the region.