Rinvyle Castle, Kanrawer, Co. Galway
Rising above the sea to the north, the ruins of Rinvyle Castle stand as a testament to centuries of Galway's turbulent history.
Rinvyle Castle, Kanrawer, Co. Galway
The castle was already well established by 1574, when records show it belonged to one Miles Mc Tibbot. What remains today is a four-storey rectangular tower, measuring roughly 10 metres in length and 9.5 metres in width, though time and weather have taken their toll; much of the northern and eastern walls have collapsed, leaving the structure in a precarious state.
The original layout can still be traced through the surviving stonework. The main entrance was centrally positioned in the east wall, leading to a lobby with spiral stairs tucked into the southeast corner. The first three floors followed a similar plan, each containing a main chamber with a smaller subsidiary room to the east. Between the second and third floors, builders incorporated a stone vault for additional structural support. The tower once stood at the northwest corner of a protective bawn wall, though little of this outer defence remains visible today.
Despite its ruined state, several architectural details survive to hint at the castle’s former grandeur. A latrine chute can be spotted in the western wall’s outer face, whilst the third floor featured notably larger windows than the crude, flat-headed single lights found elsewhere in the structure. The roofline once supported bartizans, small turrets at the southeast and northwest corners, though only their corbels remain. Today, visitors can still explore the spiral staircase and examine the remnants of the stone vault, but the gabled roof, parapet and garret level have all but vanished, leaving the tower open to the elements.