What is recorded here

Three castles at Cloonlahan (Eyre) in 1574 belonged to Conor McHugh, Auly Oge and Amacha McHugh, yet no stones or marks remain to show where they stood. The land holds no scar, no boundary, no ghost of a wall, only the names of men who lived there and vanished. What they built, what they lost, and where they kept their doors are gone. The castles exist only in a list, unplaced and unproven, belonging to nobody now.

In the list of castles in Galway, compiled in 1574, are three at 'Cloynelehare' in the barony of Longford, then in possession of 'Conor McHugh, Auly Oge and Amacha McHugh' (Nolan 1901, 110). There are two adjoining townlands called Cloonlahan in the barony: Cloonlahan (Eyre) and Cloonlahan (Geoghegan). The castles (GA099-199001-, GA099-199002- and GA099-199003-) referred to presumably stood somewhere within their confines. Not located. Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG Date of upload: 26 May 2017

Built or held in the late 16th century by members of the McHugh family in the barony of Longford, County Galway. It is remembered as part of the historical record of Gaelic landholding in the region during the Tudor period.

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