Records from 1574 show the castle was owned by one Rory O’Flaherty, a member of the powerful O’Flaherty clan who dominated much of Connemara for centuries. Today, Moycullen Lodge occupies the site where the castle once commanded views across the pastoral landscape, and whilst no visible traces of the original structure remain above ground, the story of this lost fortress hasn’t entirely vanished.

A single carved limestone fragment serves as the last tangible link to this vanished stronghold. The piece, a beautifully crafted head from a single-light cusped ogee-headed window, was discovered built into the chimney of an old house in Moycullen village. This architectural remnant, with its distinctive Gothic styling typical of late medieval Irish castles, has found a new home on display in a restored tower house in Dysert, County Clare. The fragment’s journey from chimney stone to museum piece speaks to how the stones of Ireland’s lost castles were often recycled into more mundane structures as the centuries passed.

Whilst the castle itself has disappeared, keen observers might spot what could be its last defensive feature still standing. East of Moycullen Lodge, an imposing wall runs for 35 metres along the north and east sides of an old orchard. Standing five metres high and over a metre and a half thick, this substantial structure may well be the remains of the castle’s bawn wall; the defensive enclosure that would have protected livestock and provided an outer line of defence. These massive walls, built to withstand raids and sieges, often outlast the castles they once protected, serving as silent witnesses to a more turbulent age when control of Galway’s rich farmlands was contested by Gaelic lords and Norman settlers alike.