Mocorha Castle, Mocorha, Co. Mayo
Mocorha Castle stands as a rectangular tower on a north-facing slope in County Mayo, its stone walls measuring 12.3 metres from north to south and 10.1 metres from east to west.
Mocorha Castle, Mocorha, Co. Mayo
The tower house sits in open pasture land, where only its ground floor remains intact today. Inside, the space is divided into two rooms; a larger chamber occupies most of the floor plan, whilst a smaller room takes up the southern end. The interior is now filled with rubble, topped by the crumbling remnants of what was once a vaulted stone ceiling.
The castle’s western wall still holds traces of its medieval construction, including part of a splayed window set within an arched recess on the exterior face. This architectural detail would have allowed defenders to shoot arrows whilst remaining protected behind the thick stone walls, a common feature in Irish tower houses of the period. Historical records show that by 1574, the castle was in the possession of Brian boy MacDonnell, a member of the prominent MacDonnell family who controlled various territories across Mayo during the 16th century.
Today, Mocorha Castle represents one of many tower houses that once dotted the Mayo landscape, built by Gaelic and Anglo-Norman families to defend their lands and assert their status. Though much reduced from its original height and grandeur, the surviving stonework offers visitors a tangible connection to the complex political landscape of medieval Ireland, when such fortified residences served as both family homes and symbols of local power.





