Ireland’s medieval landscape features thousands of castles, most of which were built after the Norman invasions of the late 12th century. Before this period, native Irish elites favoured different kinds of fortifications, such as ringforts and crannogs. The arrival of the Normans introduced stone castles as a form of military and political control.
Most surviving medieval castles in Ireland and Northern Ireland are tower houses—vertical stone residences built for individual families. These structures combined domestic space with defensive features and were often surrounded by bawn walls or courtyards. Below are ten examples that reflect the range of medieval castle construction in Ireland and are open to visitors today.
1. Trim Castle
The keep of Trim Castle – photo by fhwrdh / Flickr
Trim Castle, located in County Meath, is the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland. Construction began in the 1170s under Hugh de Lacy and continued into the 13th century. The castle’s central feature is a unique twenty-sided cruciform keep, surrounded by a curtain wall with rectangular towers and a gatehouse. The large outer ward contains the remains of a hall building, stables, and a defensive ditch.
Visitors can walk the perimeter walls and explore the keep via a guided tour, which includes access to multiple floors and rooftop views. Click here to learn more.
2. Blarney Castle
Photo by Ryanhuntmuzik / Wikimedia Commons
The present Blarney Castle near Cork was built in 1446 by Dermot McCarthy, King of Munster, on the site of earlier fortifications. It is a typical late-medieval Irish tower house with five storeys and defensive features such as murder holes, crenellations, and a machicolation over the main entrance. The upper floors were designed as residential quarters, while the lower levels served storage and defensive functions.
Visitors can climb to the battlements, where the Blarney Stone is set into the wall below the parapet. The site also includes gardens, cave-like chambers under the tower, and the foundations of earlier buildings. Click here to learn more.
3. Cahir Castle
Photo by Nogwater / Flickr
Cahir Castle, on the River Suir in County Tipperary, was first constructed in 1142 by Conor O’Brien and later taken over and fortified by the Butler family. It features a massive rectangular keep, multiple towers, and thick curtain walls. The castle complex includes an inner and outer ward and a barbican protecting the main gate.
Much of the structure is intact, and visitors can explore its towers, gatehouse, and halls. An audiovisual display and exhibits inside the keep provide historical background. Click here to learn more.
4. Rock of Cashel
Photo by David Stanley / Wikimedia Commons
The Rock of Cashel is a fortified complex with buildings dating from the 12th to 13th centuries. It was originally the seat of the Kings of Munster, but in 1101 it was granted to the Church. The site includes a round tower, a 13th-century cathedral, Cormac’s Chapel (a Romanesque church built in the 1120s), and a fortified hall used by the archbishop.
Visitors can explore the various structures, including the roofless cathedral and chapel with preserved frescoes. The site is enclosed by a stone wall and offers views of the surrounding plain. Click here to learn more.
5. King John’s Castle
Photo by Rob Hurson / Flickr
Built around 1200 by order of King John of England, this castle in Limerick is a large stone fortress with extensive curtain walls, corner towers, and a twin-towered gatehouse. It occupies a strategic position on the River Shannon and underwent multiple sieges in the medieval and early modern periods.
The site includes preserved gate towers, underground passages, and sections of the curtain wall. Excavations have uncovered parts of a Viking settlement underneath. The visitor centre features archaeological exhibits, a reconstructed siege scene, and digital displays explaining the castle’s history. Click here to learn more.
6. Carrickfergus Castle
Photo by Finn Terman Frederiksen / Flcikr
Carrickfergus Castle was begun in 1177 by John de Courcy as a Norman military outpost in Ulster. It originally featured a massive polygonal keep, a surrounding curtain wall, and later added outer wards and gatehouses as defences were expanded in the 13th and 16th centuries. The castle remained in continuous military use until the 1920s.
Today, visitors can access the keep, which rises three storeys, and walk along the curtain walls. The inner ward includes a chapel, latrines, and storage spaces. Click here to learn more.
7. Rock of Dunamase
Photo by Kent Clemmons / Wikimedia Commons
The Rock of Dunamase, located in County Laois, is a limestone outcrop that became the site of a large Anglo-Norman castle in the late 12th century. Originally the location of an early Christian ringfort, it was granted to Strongbow (Richard de Clare) and later passed to William Marshal through marriage. The castle was expanded with a gatehouse, curtain walls, and inner ward buildings during the 13th century but fell into disuse after repeated attacks in the 14th and 17th centuries.
Today, the site consists of substantial ruins, including sections of curtain wall, remnants of the gatehouse, and the foundations of towers and halls. Though roofless, the surviving stonework outlines the scale and defensive design of the original fortification. Visitors can walk up the slope and explore the open site, which also provides panoramic views over the surrounding countryside. Click here to learn more.
8. Dunluce Castle
Dunluce Castle – photo by Micu Radu / Wikimedia Commons
Dunluce Castle, built in the early 13th century and expanded in the 16th century by the MacDonnell family, is located on a basalt outcrop along the north Antrim coast. The castle included a curtain wall enclosing an inner courtyard, flanked by round towers and a twin-towered gatehouse. Domestic buildings such as a kitchen, lodgings, and a hall once stood within the enclosure.
Today, visitors can see the remains of the gatehouse, partial curtain walls, two main towers, and the foundations of internal structures. A stone bridge connects the mainland to the outcrop. An on-site visitor centre provides archaeological context and historical interpretation. Click here to learn more.
9. Ross Castle
Photo by Denis Moynihan / Flickr
Ross Castle, on the shores of Lough Leane near Killarney, was built in the 15th century by the O’Donoghue Ross chieftains. It is a five-storey tower house with bartizans, a machicolation over the entrance, and a bawn wall with corner towers. The castle was one of the last to fall to Cromwellian forces in the 1650s.
The interior has been restored and furnished to reflect its original use, and guided tours are available. Visitors can also view the spiral staircase, fireplaces, and chambers, as well as walk the surrounding grounds within Killarney National Park. Click here to learn more.
10. Redwood Castle
Photo by Discover Lough Derg / Flickr
Redwood Castle in County Tipperary was first constructed by the Normans around 1200 and later acquired by the MacEgan family, who used it as a law school. The structure was modified in the 14th and 15th centuries, adding a mural staircase, pointed-arch doorways, and vaulted rooms. A bawn wall once surrounded the tower, though little of it survives today.
The castle has been privately restored and opens to the public during the summer. Visitors can see the great hall, chapel, and law school chamber. Click here to learn more.
Top Image: Photo by Andrew Parnell / Wikimedia Commons
Ireland’s medieval landscape features thousands of castles, most of which were built after the Norman invasions of the late 12th century. Before this period, native Irish elites favoured different kinds of fortifications, such as ringforts and crannogs. The arrival of the Normans introduced stone castles as a form of military and political control.
Most surviving medieval castles in Ireland and Northern Ireland are tower houses—vertical stone residences built for individual families. These structures combined domestic space with defensive features and were often surrounded by bawn walls or courtyards. Below are ten examples that reflect the range of medieval castle construction in Ireland and are open to visitors today.
1. Trim Castle
Trim Castle, located in County Meath, is the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland. Construction began in the 1170s under Hugh de Lacy and continued into the 13th century. The castle’s central feature is a unique twenty-sided cruciform keep, surrounded by a curtain wall with rectangular towers and a gatehouse. The large outer ward contains the remains of a hall building, stables, and a defensive ditch.
Visitors can walk the perimeter walls and explore the keep via a guided tour, which includes access to multiple floors and rooftop views. Click here to learn more.
2. Blarney Castle
The present Blarney Castle near Cork was built in 1446 by Dermot McCarthy, King of Munster, on the site of earlier fortifications. It is a typical late-medieval Irish tower house with five storeys and defensive features such as murder holes, crenellations, and a machicolation over the main entrance. The upper floors were designed as residential quarters, while the lower levels served storage and defensive functions.
Visitors can climb to the battlements, where the Blarney Stone is set into the wall below the parapet. The site also includes gardens, cave-like chambers under the tower, and the foundations of earlier buildings. Click here to learn more.
3. Cahir Castle
Cahir Castle, on the River Suir in County Tipperary, was first constructed in 1142 by Conor O’Brien and later taken over and fortified by the Butler family. It features a massive rectangular keep, multiple towers, and thick curtain walls. The castle complex includes an inner and outer ward and a barbican protecting the main gate.
Much of the structure is intact, and visitors can explore its towers, gatehouse, and halls. An audiovisual display and exhibits inside the keep provide historical background. Click here to learn more.
4. Rock of Cashel
The Rock of Cashel is a fortified complex with buildings dating from the 12th to 13th centuries. It was originally the seat of the Kings of Munster, but in 1101 it was granted to the Church. The site includes a round tower, a 13th-century cathedral, Cormac’s Chapel (a Romanesque church built in the 1120s), and a fortified hall used by the archbishop.
Visitors can explore the various structures, including the roofless cathedral and chapel with preserved frescoes. The site is enclosed by a stone wall and offers views of the surrounding plain. Click here to learn more.
5. King John’s Castle
Built around 1200 by order of King John of England, this castle in Limerick is a large stone fortress with extensive curtain walls, corner towers, and a twin-towered gatehouse. It occupies a strategic position on the River Shannon and underwent multiple sieges in the medieval and early modern periods.
The site includes preserved gate towers, underground passages, and sections of the curtain wall. Excavations have uncovered parts of a Viking settlement underneath. The visitor centre features archaeological exhibits, a reconstructed siege scene, and digital displays explaining the castle’s history. Click here to learn more.
6. Carrickfergus Castle
Carrickfergus Castle was begun in 1177 by John de Courcy as a Norman military outpost in Ulster. It originally featured a massive polygonal keep, a surrounding curtain wall, and later added outer wards and gatehouses as defences were expanded in the 13th and 16th centuries. The castle remained in continuous military use until the 1920s.
Today, visitors can access the keep, which rises three storeys, and walk along the curtain walls. The inner ward includes a chapel, latrines, and storage spaces. Click here to learn more.
7. Rock of Dunamase
The Rock of Dunamase, located in County Laois, is a limestone outcrop that became the site of a large Anglo-Norman castle in the late 12th century. Originally the location of an early Christian ringfort, it was granted to Strongbow (Richard de Clare) and later passed to William Marshal through marriage. The castle was expanded with a gatehouse, curtain walls, and inner ward buildings during the 13th century but fell into disuse after repeated attacks in the 14th and 17th centuries.
Today, the site consists of substantial ruins, including sections of curtain wall, remnants of the gatehouse, and the foundations of towers and halls. Though roofless, the surviving stonework outlines the scale and defensive design of the original fortification. Visitors can walk up the slope and explore the open site, which also provides panoramic views over the surrounding countryside. Click here to learn more.
8. Dunluce Castle
Dunluce Castle, built in the early 13th century and expanded in the 16th century by the MacDonnell family, is located on a basalt outcrop along the north Antrim coast. The castle included a curtain wall enclosing an inner courtyard, flanked by round towers and a twin-towered gatehouse. Domestic buildings such as a kitchen, lodgings, and a hall once stood within the enclosure.
Today, visitors can see the remains of the gatehouse, partial curtain walls, two main towers, and the foundations of internal structures. A stone bridge connects the mainland to the outcrop. An on-site visitor centre provides archaeological context and historical interpretation. Click here to learn more.
9. Ross Castle
Ross Castle, on the shores of Lough Leane near Killarney, was built in the 15th century by the O’Donoghue Ross chieftains. It is a five-storey tower house with bartizans, a machicolation over the entrance, and a bawn wall with corner towers. The castle was one of the last to fall to Cromwellian forces in the 1650s.
The interior has been restored and furnished to reflect its original use, and guided tours are available. Visitors can also view the spiral staircase, fireplaces, and chambers, as well as walk the surrounding grounds within Killarney National Park. Click here to learn more.
10. Redwood Castle
Redwood Castle in County Tipperary was first constructed by the Normans around 1200 and later acquired by the MacEgan family, who used it as a law school. The structure was modified in the 14th and 15th centuries, adding a mural staircase, pointed-arch doorways, and vaulted rooms. A bawn wall once surrounded the tower, though little of it survives today.
The castle has been privately restored and opens to the public during the summer. Visitors can see the great hall, chapel, and law school chamber. Click here to learn more.
Top Image: Photo by Andrew Parnell / Wikimedia Commons
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