Ireland · Ruin
Menlo Castle
Menlo Castle (Menlough or Blake's Castle) is a 16th-century tower house complex on the bank of the River Corrib near Menlo village, County Galway. The original mid-16th-century tower house was extended in the 18th century with a two-bay, four-storey block and a square turret at the eastern end. The building was occupied by the Blake family until a destructive fire in the early 20th century and today stands as a ruin on the riverside.
Its prime
1909
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1909
What Menlo Castle looked like in its prime.
A riverside stone castle composed of a mid-16th-century tower house abutting an 18th-century two-bay, four-storey rectangular block with a square turret at the eastern end; pale grey masonry walls rise in straight gables punctured by regularly spaced rectangular windows and tall brick or stone chimneys. At its prime the roofs would have been continuous and slate-covered, windows glazed with frames, and the façades free of vegetation, sitting directly on the grassy bank of the River Corrib.
Its story
The story of Menlo Castle.
Tower House to Blake Seat, 1569-1799
Menlo Castle, Caisleán Mhionlaigh, also called Blake's Castle, sits on the bank of the River Corrib near Menlo village in County Galway. It is built on the site of a mid-16th-century tower house and incorporates portions of it; several accounts date that tower house to 1569, and a Thomas Colman was recorded as its occupant in 1574. The Blake family occupied it later, and during the 18th century the castle was extended to take in a two-bay, four-storey block. A square turreted structure stands at the building's eastern end.
The Fire of 26 July 1910
The castle was home to the Blake family for several centuries, until it was destroyed by fire in the early 20th century. On 26 July 1910, while Sir Valentine Blake, 14th baronet, and Lady Blake were away in Dublin, fire broke out in the castle. The body of their daughter Eleanor, who was disabled, was never found, and she is presumed to have died in the fire.
The Land Commission and the Compulsory Purchase, 1923-2000
The castle was largely left to ruin after the fire, and the Blake estate was divided by the Land Commission in 1923. In July 2000 Galway City Council acquired the castle site and its surrounds under a compulsory purchase order, from five separate landowners.
Step inside
5 places to explore in 1909.
The record describes 5 distinct spots at Menlo Castle, including 1 interior: original tower house (interior/exterior juncture). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Clans who held Menlo Castle.
The families that held Menlo Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Blake
Home to the Blake family for several centuries, until the castle was destroyed by fire in the early 20th century.
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