What is recorded here

Fough Castle stood on a natural limestone bridge spanning the Owenriff River until eighteen-century barracks builders erased it completely. Murrogh ne doo O'Flaherty held the strange spanning seat in 1574, but human ambition later chopped the unusual landmark into Oughterard's military foundation. The river still flows through the gap where a whole castle disappeared, proving that even stone bridges can be consumed when human urgency demands their shape.

On a natural limestone bridge which spans the Owenriff River. In existence in 1574 when it was in the possession of 'Murrogh ne doo' O'Flaherty (Nolan 1901, 115). Known as Fough Castle or Nowghe, it appears to have been completely demolished in the 18th C when the nearby military barracks of Oughterard was built. No visible surface trace survives. (Hardiman 1846, 52-3; O'Flanagan 1927a, Vol. 3, 145) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. I - West Galway'. Compiled by Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1993). Date of upload: 05 August 2010

Fough Castle, also known as Nowghe, was held by Murrogh ne doo O'Flaherty in 1574 and is notable for its strategic location on a natural limestone bridge spanning the Owenriff River. It is remembered as an example of early medieval Irish defensive architecture in a remote and historically significant landscape.

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