17 January, 2018

donegal castle

photo from 16/12/15

Donegal Castle is a castle situated in the centre of Donegal Town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland. For most of the last two centuries, the majority of the buildings lay in ruins but the castle was almost fully restored in the early 1990s.

The castle consists of a 15th-century rectangular keep with a later Jacobean style wing. The complex is sited on a bend in the River Eske, near the mouth of Donegal Bay, and is surrounded by a 17th-century boundary wall. There is a small gatehouse at its entrance mirroring the design of the keep. Most of the stonework was constructed from locally sourced limestone with some sandstone. The castle was the stronghold of the O'Donnell clan, Lords of Tír Conaill and one of the most powerful Gaelic families in Ireland from the 5th to the 16th centuries.


26 comments:

  1. A fine castle beautifully restored!

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  2. Hello Bill.
    Such a beautiful and historical castle!
    Wonderful picture!
    Dreaming to visit Ireland one day and see all the lovely castles and the Rock of Cashel!
    Thank you for sharing!Enjoy your afternoon!
    Dimi...

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  3. Very impressive and an interesting history. I like that bay window.

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  4. I can see a few ghosts strolling the grounds in the photo

    (or maybe that's my imagination flowing)

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  5. I like to visit castles. I visited some in Portugal, England, Scotland and in Prague and Palaces in Venice.

    In Canada, I visited only 2. Two "young" castles which do not look at all like the ones in Europe, being a young country: The beautiful Le Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City and Casa Loma in Toronto.

    A time travel machine would come very handy... :)

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    1. Ah! Forgot the beautiful castles and palaces in France. :)

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  6. Castle Donegal is a wonderful reminder of times past Bill.

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  7. Beautiful castle, interesting construction.

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  8. Amazing castle----glad it is being restored.
    Love the old dog in the previous post.
    MB

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  9. It's beautiful with a long history.

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  10. Awesome! I will never not want to live in a castle someday lol. Are people allowed to walk around it?

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    1. You can walk around it. They also have tours. When my daughter comes to visit, we are going to take her there.

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  11. I love castles, and that is a fine one!

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  12. Fascinating history and a remarkable building. I'd like to know more and see more photos of it. The last castle I live in was....well...non-existent!

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  13. If I ever won lotto here I'd do a tour of Ireland, Scotland Britain to visit old medieval farmhouses and castles.

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  14. Nice to see the photograph and interesting to read the history.

    All the best Jan

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  15. Is that all that is left of the castle? Must have been very impressive in its time!

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  16. How nice that it's actually been restored! I hope you'll take lots more pictures when you visit it with your daughter.

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  17. Hi Bill.

    Beautiful castle, good that it is still there.

    Groettie from Patricia.

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  18. It is a wonderful castle and I love the fence/rock walls too. I saw in the above comments that you will be visiting there with your daughter. How nice! I visited Germany many years ago and was fortunate to go on a castle tour.

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  19. I love this photo. I am coming to Ireland in July and I can not wait!!

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