Doonagore Castle

On the east coast of Ireland where there are islands of Aran, you can see the ghostly Doonagore castle, which dominates over the surrounding area alone.

Medieval Doonagore castle rises on a small hill right on the Atlantic coast in County Clare. The castle is located halfway between the village of Doolin, which is about a kilometer away from the Cliffs of Moher.

Unfortunately for lovers of castles, Doonagore is now a private house and not open for public visits. This mansion is more like a small fortress, which consists of a high tower with a patio surrounded by a firewall. Even today this house and tower serves as a navigational point for arriving and departing ships of the harbor.

The current castle Doonagore was built on the Irish coast in the 16th century, but there was a fort at this place back in 1300. In 1582 the fortress fell into the hands of Sir Turlough O'Brien of Ennistymon.

Two years later, a bloody history forever remains an integral part of the Doonagore’s past. In 1582 during the retreat of the Spanish Armada, one of the vessels with fleeing Spaniards crashed into the coasts of the castle. As a result, 170 Spanish soldiers were shipwrecked and the survivors of the ship were captured and later hanged in the castle Doonagore.

At the early years of 1800’s Doonagore started to ruin, as until this it was left to the arbitrariness and was not operated by anyone. It was then restored in parts by a man known as Counselor Gore, but there restoration did not survive long as again in the middle of the 19th century the fortress once again became in a very poor condition.

120 years later, in 1970 a major restoration of the ruins of Doonagore began. The stone walls and towers began to broadcast its former strength and power after the work of architect Rex MacGovern. He was employed by an American buyer named O'Gorman, whose heirs still own the castle.