Dunguaire Castle

Dunguaire Castle ‘the Fort of Guaire’ was built in 1520 by the O’Hynes clan on the picturesque shores of Galway Bay. This restored 16th century tower house sits on a rocky outcrop on the shores of Galway Bay.

The name derives from the dun (fort) of King Guaire, the legendary king of Connacht.

In the early 17th century the castle passed into the hands of the Martyn’s of Galway. Richard Martyn, Mayor of Galway lived here until 1642 and the Martyn’s of Tulira Castle, owned the castle until this century.

It is well known for the legend “Flight of the dishes” when on Easter Sunday more than 14 hundred years ago Colman, a  monk and brother of King Guaire ‘the hospitable,’ pitied his monks after a strict lent and prayed for food. All the dishes from the King’s banquet flew out of the window. The King as his men gave chase. The dishes led them to a remote monaster.

Terrified by the angry warriors Colman again prayed, and their feet and the hoofs of their horses stuck fast in the rocks.

The dish-like hollows in the crags below the hermitage of St. Colman MacDuach, at the great ‘Cliff of the Eagle,’ in Kinallia, have marks like the footprints of men and animals.

Dunguaire Castle is Temporarily Closed