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Smithstown/Ballynagowan Castle (in Ruins)

Castle, tower house
Smithstown/Ballynagowan Castle (in Ruins)
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What is recorded here

Ballynagowan Castle stands in ruins at Smithstown, a tower house reduced to walls and memory. It belongs to the cluster of Clare fortifications that marked local power before modern boundaries. The stones still hold the shape of rooms that once echoed with footsteps, though the names of those footsteps have faded. What remains is enough to imagine the height of the building and the seriousness with which it was made.
See attached document with details from Risteárd Ua Cróinín and Martin Breen, The Castles and Tower-houses of Co. Clare (unpublished report). Uploaded courtesy of R. Ua Cróinín and M. Breen. Date of upload: 18 December 2014

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

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