Newtown Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Newtown Castle |
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Newtown Castle prior to restoration
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| General information | |
| Location | Ballyvaughan, County Clare, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 53°06′14″N 9°10′09″W / 53.103861°N 9.169228°W |
| Completed | 16th century |
| Client | O'Brien Clan |
Newtown Castle is an old castle from the 1500s. It is a special type of building called a tower house. You can find it near the village of Ballyvaughan in a beautiful area of County Clare, Ireland, called The Burren.
What makes Newtown Castle unique is its shape. Most tower houses are square, but Newtown Castle is mostly round like a cylinder. However, it sits on a square base that looks like a pyramid! Today, this historic castle is part of the Burren College of Art.
Castle History
Newtown Castle was probably built around the year 1550. It was built for the powerful O'Brien clan, a very important family in the area. Old records from 1641 show that Donogh O'Brien owned the castle back then.
However, the castle soon passed to another strong family, the O'Lochlainn (or O'Loghlen) family. They were the most powerful family in that part of the Burren. In 1839, a mapping project called the Ordnance Survey noted that Charles O'Loghlen lived in the castle. The report said the tower was in good condition. Charles O'Loghlen was even known locally as the "King of the Burren"!
In 1848, the landlord who owned the land, the Marquess of Buckingham, had money problems. He sold his lands in County Clare, which included about 7,000 acres, for 30,000 pounds. A man named Richard Samuel Guinness bought them for Colonel Henry White.
Around the 1850s, during a land survey called Griffith's Valuation, a building next to the castle was a rectory. A rectory is a house for a priest. Reverend Hugh B. Howlett lived there.
Later, at the end of the 1800s, Peter O'Loghlen lived in the castle. People called him the "Prince of the Burren."
When the castle was being rebuilt (we'll talk about that next), people dug up some parts of the ground around it. These digs showed that the castle might actually be from the late 1500s or early 1600s, a little later than first thought. They also found signs that many people lived in the area long ago. There were animal bones, shells, and a large paved area. This made people wonder if the name "Newtown" might have meant there was a new settlement or village near the castle.
Castle Design
Newtown Castle is one of only a few tower houses in Ireland that are round. Out of about 3,000 tower houses in Ireland, only about 30 are round. What makes Newtown Castle truly special is its unusual pyramid-shaped base. This makes it unique in all of Ireland!
The tower has four floors above the ground floor. The ground floor and the first floor have strong, curved ceilings called vaulted ceilings. You can also see narrow openings on the first floor called gun-loops. These were used to fire guns from inside the castle. A doorway on the second floor might have connected to another building that is now gone. These features, along with the shapes of the window frames, suggest the castle was built in the 1500s.
The tower was carefully restored in 1993 and 1994. It was given a new cone-shaped roof made of oak. Mary Robinson, who was the President of Ireland at the time, officially opened the restored castle in July 1994.
Newtown Castle Today
Newtown Castle was brought back to life in 1993–1994 to be used by the new Burren College of Art. President Mary Robinson opened it in 1994.
Today, the castle can be rented for special events like weddings and conferences. It is also located along the Burren Way, which is a popular long walking path. The castle is in the area known as Newton, within the parish of Drumcreehy.
You can visit the tower on weekdays.
