Fiddaun Castle: A Sixteenth-Century Tower House in Ireland
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.8
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Ireland
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- English
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
History
Fiddaun Castle is a mid-sixteenth-century tower house in Ireland, located near Tubber in County Galway close to the border with County Clare. It formed one of four castles associated with the O’Shaughnessy family and stood within the former kingdom and historical territory of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne, a Galway region connected with that family.
Construction is most likely attributed to Sir Roger Gilla Dubh Ó Seachnasaigh, an O’Shaughnessy nobleman who was the first person mentioned as living at Fiddaun. The castle is not known from before his time. Its name, Fiodh Duin, means “wood of the fort.” Fiddaun Castle is a National Monument of Ireland. It stands on private land and is maintained by the Office of Public Works, the Irish state body responsible for many national monuments and historic properties.
Remains
Fiddaun Castle is a ruined tower house, a compact fortified residence that combined living quarters with defensive construction. The structure was built from rubble stone and stands between Lough Doo and Lough Aslaun. Its inner bawn wall remains well preserved. A bawn is an enclosed defensive area surrounding a tower house, and this surviving wall preserves part of the castle’s fortified residential layout.
