Garbally Castle facts for kids
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Garbally Castle is an old stone building, known as a tower house, from the late Middle Ages. You can find it in the area of Skehana, in County Galway, Ireland. It's a cool example of the castles built a long time ago.
Where is Garbally Castle?
Garbally Castle stands out in the small area called Garbally. This area is part of the Skehana parish. The castle is right where two roads meet: the R338 and the road leading to St Kerrils Abbey. The land around Garbally is quite small, about 74 acres. Its name, Garbally, comes from the Irish language. It means "rough enclosure" or "rough townland."
The History of Garbally Castle
Garbally Castle was built in 1499. A person named Malachy O'Kelly had it constructed. The O'Kelly family was famous in Ireland for building strong castles. Just a few years later, in 1504, another powerful leader, MacWilliam De Burgo, attacked and damaged the castle. He also destroyed two other O'Kelly castles nearby.
It's not clear how much damage was done then. Later, in the 1600s, the castle was partly destroyed again. This time, it was during the time of Oliver Cromwell. After these events, the land changed hands. By the 1850s, a diplomat named Robert French owned the whole area. The Blake family then rented the castle and lived there.
What Garbally Castle Looks Like Now
Today, Garbally Castle is a ruin. This means parts of its inside are open to the sky. The castle was built as a three-story tower. It has a square shape. The southwest side is the most damaged. Here, you can see the very thick walls. These walls have secret passages inside them.
The first floor has a cool arched ceiling. On the southeast wall, there's a pointed arch doorway. Above this door, there's a small opening called a gun loop. This was used to fire guns at attackers. There's also a "murder-hole" which was a hole to drop things on enemies below.
The top parts of the northeast and southeast walls still have stone supports. These supports once held up parts that stuck out, called machicolations. These were used to drop stones or hot liquids on attackers. Some windows are in the northeast wall. Three of them are just narrow slits. Sadly, a handball court was built against this side. This has damaged the old castle. Inside the handball court, there is a special plaque. It remembers Ellen Mannion, her husband Michael McDermott, and their two children. They found shelter in the ruined castle in 1850.
