Nenagh Castle

Nenagh Castle was built around 1200 by Theobald Walter, the first Butler of Ireland and ancestor of the Ormond line, as the circular keep of a much larger pentagonal castle with a gatehouse and towers - most of which is gone. The keep is about thirty metres tall and five storeys, and it stands in the middle of the town with houses close around it. The upper section is not medieval: the crenellated top was added in the 1860s by a local bishop who intended to convert the tower into a cathedral bell tower, a project that was never finished, and the join between medieval and Victorian masonry is visible. The castle was conserved and opened to the public in 2013 after a long restoration. A stone spiral stair runs to a roof walk with a view over Nenagh and out toward Lough Derg. Access is free but seasonal and dependent on staffing.

History

The town lies in the barony of Ormond Lower, the traditional territory of the O'Kennedys before the Norman invasion, and the land was included in King John's grant to Theobald, eldest son of Hervey Walter of Lancashire. The name means "the fair of Ormond", and the town was long a market town and the site of the East Munster Ormond Fair (Wikipedia, Nenagh).

What to look for

• The circular keep - around thirty metres and five storeys, from about 1200.
• The Victorian top - the 1860s crenellation added for an unfinished cathedral scheme.
• The roof walk - a view over the town and toward Lough Derg.
• The town setting - the keep standing among ordinary streets.

When to go

April to September; opening is seasonal and depends on staffing, with limited or no winter access. An hour covers it.

Before you go

Seasonal opening only and hours vary - check before travelling. The spiral stair is narrow, steep and has over a hundred steps, unsuitable for limited mobility. Only the keep survives of a larger castle.

Nearby

Nenagh town centre is around it; Lough Derg and Terryglass are north.