Galboley Castle, Galboley, Co. Galway
Within the western half of what may have been a moated site, the ruins of Galboley Castle stand as a puzzle for historians and archaeologists alike.
Galboley Castle, Galboley, Co. Galway
Historical records confirm that a castle existed here in 1574, when it belonged to one Olyverus Roe Burke, though whether the current remains represent that original castle or a later structure remains uncertain. What survives today is a rectangular two-storey gabled building, measuring over 12.3 metres east to west and 5.8 metres north to south, its rubble-built walls bearing the scars of centuries of neglect and stone robbing.
The most substantial remnant is the eastern gable wall, which rises to five metres in height and measures 0.85 metres thick. The adjoining side walls partially survive; the northern wall extends 3.1 metres at three metres high, whilst only a metre of the southern wall remains at 1.5 metres in height. The western gable has vanished entirely. A breach roughly two metres wide at ground level in the gable wall likely marks where a doorway once stood, with evidence of a first-floor window embrasure visible above it, though only its northern side remains intact. A horizontal offset in the internal masonry, positioned about 1.7 metres above ground level, indicates where the first floor would have been, and a slight base batter can be spotted at the northeast corner along with traces of a basal plinth.
The site holds additional intrigue, with traces of another building visible approximately ten metres east of the main structure, suggesting this was once a more extensive complex. The reference to a possible moated site hints at defensive features that would have surrounded these buildings, though clear evidence of such fortifications has yet to be definitively identified. These ruins offer a tangible connection to the Anglo-Norman and Gaelic lordships that controlled this region of Galway during the late medieval period, when tower houses and fortified dwellings dotted the landscape as symbols of power and protection.