Ireland · Still standing
Rockfleet Castle
Caisleán Charraig an Chabhlaigh
Rockfleet Castle (Carrickahowley) is a mid‑15th‑century Irish tower house on the tidal shore near Newport, County Mayo, associated with the O'Malley family and Grace O'Malley. It is a four‑storey rectangular stone tower rising above the rocks at the edge of Clew Bay, overlooking the drumlin landscape.
Its prime
1580
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1580
What Rockfleet Castle looked like in its prime.
A freestanding, rectangular four‑storey stone tower over eighteen metres tall, set directly on rocky tidal foreshore beside Clew Bay. Vertical, plain grey rubble masonry pierced by a few narrow slit and arched openings; a single ground‑level arched doorway faces the shore. The top has short projecting corner sections with a gabled roofline above a narrow parapet. Surrounding terrain is low grassy marsh and rocky outcrops with the rounded drumlin hills of Clew Bay on the far side of the water.
Its story
The story of Rockfleet Castle.
Carraig an Chabhlaigh, the Rock of the Fleet
Rockfleet was raised in the middle of the fifteenth century on the shore of Clew Bay near Newport in County Mayo, a tower house of four floors standing more than eighteen metres high and looking out towards the drumlins of the bay. Its Irish name, Carraig an Chabhlaigh, anglicised as Carrickahowley or Carraigahowley, means the rock of the fleet.
The tower is a national monument of Ireland. In 2015 a metal walkway was laid from the grassland around it to the entrance, because reaching the doorway at high tide was so awkward; the exterior masonry was pointed in 2017.
Grace O'Malley, Chieftain of Clan O'Malley
The castle's fame rests on Grace O'Malley, the chieftain of Clan O'Malley remembered as the pirate queen, the figure with whom Rockfleet is most closely associated. It has been suggested, though never established, that she died here.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1580.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Rockfleet Castle, including 2 interiors: arched ground-level entrance and doorway recess, ground-floor stone chamber (first interior level). 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 Rockfleet 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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