Built around 1520 by the O’Hynes clan, who held sway over this part of County Galway for centuries, Dungory Castle later passed through various hands including the Martyns of Tulira and eventually the Gort-based branch of the O’Shaughnessy family. The castle’s strategic position allowed its inhabitants to monitor both maritime traffic in the bay and movement along the important land routes connecting Galway city with County Clare.

The tower house itself rises to approximately 75 feet, with its distinctive Irish stepped battlements crowning thick limestone walls that measure nearly six feet at their base. Inside, visitors can explore multiple floors connected by a narrow spiral staircase; each level served different purposes, from storage and kitchens on the lower floors to the lord’s private chambers above. The restoration work carried out in the 1920s by Oliver St. John Gogarty, the celebrated surgeon, writer and wit who served as the inspiration for Buck Mulligan in James Joyce’s Ulysses, saved the structure from ruin and transformed it into a venue for literary gatherings that attracted luminaries like W.B. Yeats and George Bernard Shaw.

Today, Dunguaire Castle offers visitors a glimpse into both medieval life and Ireland’s literary renaissance. The castle hosts medieval banquets during summer months, complete with traditional music and storytelling, whilst its grounds provide spectacular views across Galway Bay towards the Burren. The surrounding landscape, with its stone walls, ancient field systems and proximity to Kinvara village, creates a setting that has changed remarkably little since the tower house first rose from these windswept shores five centuries ago.