Rockfleet Castle

Newport, Ireland

Rockfleet or Carrickahowley Castle is a tower house near Newport in County Mayo, Ireland. It was built in the mid-fifteenth century, and is most famously associated with Grace O'Malley, the 'pirate queen' and chieftain of the Clan O’Malley. The castle has been speculated as her place of death.

Rockfleet Castle has four floors and is over eighteen metres in height looking out towards the drumlins of Clew Bay. Though entry to the castle was once available to the public, it is now strictly prohibited for safety reasons. The castle was installed with a metal walkway in 2015, from its adjacent grassland surrounding to its door due to the sheer inconvenience of accessing its entrance during high tides. In 2017, the exterior masonry was pointed.

References:

Wikipedia

Address

Newport, Ireland

See all sites in Newport

Details

Founded: 15th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in Ireland

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.3/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Burrishoole Friary (3,6 km)

Cong Abbey (45,5 km)
Ashford Castle (46,1 km)
Rosserk Friary (44 km)
Strade Abbey (32,7 km)
Carrickkildavnet Castle (21 km)
Turlough Abbey (27,5 km)
Ballintubber Abbey (27,4 km)
Clare Island Abbey (26,4 km)
Moyne Abbey (44,9 km)

User Reviews

Tasha (3 years ago)
Castle is undergoing some renovation so the visit was very disappointing. Beautiful day though …

Fergie (4 years ago)
Love old castles,towers and historical houses. Bring the kids for a ramble around it and teach them a bit of our countries history. Better than looking at it in a book.

Deborah St. Onge (6 years ago)
This was a great historic stop for us to explore one of the tower homes of Irelands Great Female Chieftain and the historic Pirate Queen Grace O'Malley.

YVRIRL (7 years ago)
Best way to discover this place is to join a guided bike riding tour which we did and its spectacular. This castle was home to the female pirate.

Mihai Chirita (8 years ago)
Not too much to view, the door on the castle was closed, the view to the ocean is spectacular.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Klearchos Kapoutsis

Historic Site of the week

Beckov Castle

The Beckov castle stands on a steep 50 m tall rock in the village Beckov. The dominance of the rock and impression of invincibility it gaves, challenged our ancestors to make use of these assets. The result is a remarkable harmony between the natural setting and architecture.

The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.

The next owners, the Bánffys who adapted the Gothic castle to the Renaissance residence, improved its fortifications preventing the Turks from conquering it at the end of the 16th century. When Bánffys died out, the castle was owned by several noble families. It fell in decay after fire in 1729.

The history of the castle is the subject of different legends.