Built sometime in the 16th or early 17th century, this tower house was once home to the Burke family, part of the powerful Anglo-Norman dynasty that dominated much of Connacht for generations. The castle’s strategic location would have given its inhabitants control over the surrounding countryside, whilst its thick stone walls provided protection during the turbulent periods that characterised medieval and early modern Ireland.

Today, visitors to the site will find substantial remains of the original structure, though time and weather have taken their toll. The tower house, typical of its era, would have originally stood several storeys high with living quarters stacked vertically; the ground floor likely served as storage, whilst the upper floors contained the main hall and private chambers. Arrow slits and defensive features can still be spotted in the remaining walls, reminding us that these weren’t just homes but fortified residences designed to withstand sieges and raids that were all too common during this period.

Like many Irish castles, Kilkeeran’s decline probably began during the Cromwellian conquest of the 1650s, when Oliver Cromwell’s forces systematically destroyed or confiscated Catholic-owned strongholds throughout Ireland. The castle may have been slighted, deliberately damaged to prevent its future use as a defensive position, or simply abandoned as the old Gaelic order gave way to English colonial rule. What remains offers a glimpse into a vanished way of life, when local lords ruled from stone towers and the Irish landscape was dotted with hundreds of such fortifications, each telling its own story of power, conflict, and eventual abandonment.