Ireland · Restored
Granuaile's Castle
Caisleán Ghráinne (Cliara)
Granuaile's Castle is a 16th-century tower house on the east coast of Clare Island, built by the Ó Máille (O'Malley) family and associated with Gráinne Ní Mháille (Grace O'Malley). It is a vertical stone tower house retaining its characteristic corner bartizans and a first-floor main living room with an attached garderobe.
Its prime
1580
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1580
What Granuaile's Castle looked like in its prime.
A 16th-century rectangular stone tower house rising from the rocky east coast of Clare Island, standing several storeys high with narrow slit windows punctuating the masonry. Two projecting circular corner bartizans break the roofline; the tower's first-floor contains the main living room with direct access into the bartizans and to a built-in garderobe. Walls are exposed stone; the structure is fully roofed and complete in its prime, sitting close to the shoreline.
Its story
The story of Granuaile's Castle.
The Ó Máille Kings of Umaill and Gráinne Ní Mháille
The tower house on the east coast of Clare Island, off County Mayo, was built in the 16th century by the Ó Máille, or O'Malley, Kings of Umaill. It was a stronghold of Gráinne Ní Mháille, Grace O'Malley, who lived from about 1530 to about 1603 and is remembered as the "pirate queen"; she held two others, Rockfleet Castle on Clew Bay and Carrickkildavnet Castle. The main living room sat at first-floor level, with access from it to the bartizans and the garderobe.
Police Barracks and National Monument, from the 1820s
In the 1820s the tower was converted into a police barracks, and the purple slate flashing on its two bartizans dates from that conversion. The castle is protected as a National Monument.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1580.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Granuaile's Castle, including 2 interiors: first-floor main living room, built-in garderobe (latrine) access. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Granuaile's Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1580, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Granuaile's Castle.
The families that held Granuaile's Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
O'Malley
Built by the Ó Máille (O'Malley) family; a stronghold of Gráinne Ní Mháille, Grace O'Malley, in the 16th century.
