• Townland - Castlegar.
  • Parish      -    "    ".
  • County     - Galway.
  • Coordinates  53.2983 , -9.0215
  • See Castlegar Castle in Google Street View (new window).
  • Elevation; 40 feet (12.192 Metres)
  • The Parish and this particular Townland, gets their names from this particular Structure - " An Caislean Gearr" , the short Castle.
  • Technically, a Tower House.
  • Pollavurleen, is to the West, with a Boreen towards it, and an old Well, is just South.

castle

  • Richard Burke built this Castle after the his son was beheaded by O Flaherty; an over reaction perhaps to a demand for taxes. Burke is said to have only stayed one night, before moving out to Portumna Castle in the South of County Galway.
  • This Castle has an excellent view toward the West (Galway City), and the South.
  • A beautiful stone arch is still visible today, as are a number of narrow slit windows. Half of the roof is missing.
  • The Castle which is only one of the List of Castlegar Castles .
  • See more information on the Handball element of this place at http://irishhandballalley.blogspot.com/2010/04/castlegar-cogalway.html With side walls to contain the game of handball and hurling practice -  this facility was used for for many years and could have been instrumental in the development of some of our Hurlers ?
  • Connected to Ballinfoyle and Galway, by higher Water levels, in the past. See Contour Maps, for plausibility. 
  • Never lived in, according to folklore. 
  • Today, you can see the large potted plants which were placed there about 20 years ago, along with local place-names.
  • We, foolishly, used to climb this, via the Chimney - narrow, even for us, wide, and certainly dangerous.
  • This Castle played a central role in the Spellman Boreen Festival of 2009, and  another in 2010.
  • A Local Group, "Connect Castlegar" were instrumental in fostering a Community spirit.

Spellman's Boreen Festival, 2009

     ^ 2009, complete with the Civil Defense.

placename

^ The Place name carved in limestone and positioned against the North East face.

Below are some sample photographs graciously given by Connect Castlegar's recent project.

Castle Interior

^ The Castle's interior clearly showing buttress stones and more arches.

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Dancing