Castle

Located on the S side of Killala town, immediately to SW of the cathedral (MA022-017003-) and graveyard (MA022-017010-). A T-shaped building, annotated 'Castle', is shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map. It is depicted as a rectangular E-W building, with short N-S projection midway along the N side, and it is bordered to S by a large subrectangular expanse of formal gardens. It is not shown on later OS map editions, and there are now no visible remains at ground level. McHale (1985, 47) records that this ‘Castle’ was a bishop’s palace, already in existence in 1646 when a wall was built around it. It was the official residence of the Protestant Bishop of Killala and Achonry. There are records that it was repaired in 1663, and in 1691 Bishop William Lloyd repaired ‘at great expense the See-house and gardens which had been miserably despoiled during the wars under James II’ (McHale 1985, 48). Knox (1908, 349) refers to a 16th-century castle in Killala, which was owned by Richard Barrett, but it is unclear if this is the same building or another. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 25 April 2019

Built in the early 17th century, Castle Killala was constructed by the Blake family, who held the estate under the Earls of Clanricarde. It is remembered as the site of a significant massacre in 1798 during the Irish Rebellion, where British forces killed over 100 Irish rebels.