Discovering the treasure on our own front door

Date Published: {J}

With money tight and the recent volcanic ash cloud making one think twice about taking to the skies, more and more people are continuing to look at holiday options at home, especially those with young families.

Some people are considering not even wandering outside their own county borders, instead preferring to discover hidden gems in their own back yard, so to speak, and considering Galway is the second largest county in Ireland, covering almost 2,500 square miles, there is plenty to discover here.

Brigit’s Garden in Roscahill, Glengowla Mines in Oughterard, the Aran Islands, Coole Park, Turoe Pet Farm outside Loughrea, the Battle of Aughrim Interpretative Centre, Spiddal Craft Centre, the Marconi Station in Clifden, the Galway City Museum – all places worth a visit during the Summer.

Galway has its own fair share of castles as well, which are in varying states of disrepair, such as Glinsk Castle in north east Galway, Cloghan Castle near Loughrea, Menlo Castle in Galway City, and Oranmore Castle.

Oranmore village takes its name from a great well, also called Poul na Gour, which is located near the castle. The well was fed by a river stream to the south of Oranmore, which The Connacht Tribune of 1921 described as expanding “in a broad watery termination called the Reask, where it went underground”.

There appears to be no record of when the castle was first built. The style and architecture of the building suggests it was built in the early 1400s, but as the site commands the old road, which ran along the castle, to Galway City from both the south and the east – the original stone bridge connecting Oranmore and Galway can still be seen at low water – it is very likely that the castle was built on the site of an earlier castle or fort, possibly from the 13th century. There is one school of thought that suggests the front tower was built then, with the great hall added in the early 1400s.

The castle as we know it today was built by the invading Normans and was used as a garrison to house soldiers. In the 17th century the Earl of Clanricarde held the castle for King Charles I, and used the adjacent pier to supply the besieged garrison. Galway City fell to General Ireton, the son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell, in 1652, and legend has it that Oranmore Castle was his first port of call.

In 1693 there is a mention of Walter Blake, the Galway MP, living in the castle with one of his sons. The Blake family built a house adjoining the existing building, when the castle changed in use from a soldiers’ garrison to living accommodation for a family.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.