Cloghmoyle Castle (in ruins)

In flat open pastureland. This poorly preserved rectangular castle (ext. dims. 10.3m E-W; 7.2m N-S; wall T 1m), which is heavily overgrown with ivy, is at least two storeys high. The S and W walls are the best preserved walls; most of the W half of the N wall and the N end of the E wall are gone. No trace of the doorway survives. The remains of a centrally located splayed slit window are visible in the S wall and traces of opes at 1st-floor level in the frayed NE end of the N wall and centrally in the S wall may also be the remains of windows. A wall recess is visible at ground-floor level in the N end of the W wall. The interior is subdivided by a later wall which blocks the slit window in the S wall. Traces of possible angle towers (max. H 0.5m) are visible at the NE (>3.85m N-S; 2.9m N-S) and SW (c. 2.9m N-S; c. 2.1m E-W) corners, however, that at the SW corner is not bonded into the castle wall. An ope in the SW corner of the castle wall may mark a doorway that accessed it. The tower at the NE corner is less clear but it is noticeable that its S extent coincides with the frayed N end of the E wall of the castle. It is recorded that ‘Cloughmeel (recté Cloghmweel) was once a convent’ (O'Flanagan 1972a, Vol. 1, 481). The castle may have subsequently been used as a residence by nuns. (OSNB Parish of Claregalway, 17) Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG Date of upload: 29 January 2020