Overview
Ballymote Castle was the strongest fortress in Connacht when Richard de Burgh finished it around 1300, and it still sets the shape of the town – a near-square of three-metre-thick walls and round corner towers, free to walk into and standing right beside the railway platform. The town itself (Baile an Mhóta, “town of the fort”) sits 24 km south-east of Sligo town in the old Corran barony of County Sligo, a market town of around 1,700 people that still keeps its Friday rhythm. Beyond the centre, the drumlin country holds prehistoric tombs, limestone caves and gentle hill walks.
Ballymote Castle
The fortress was commissioned in 1300 by Richard de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster, to hold his Connacht estates. Its layout closely mirrors Edward I’s Beaumaris Castle in Wales: ten-foot-thick curtain walls, a north gatehouse with twin three-storey towers, and D-shaped towers along the east and west walls. De Burgh never finished the planned southern gate tower, leaving the design asymmetrical but no less heavy. The central courtyard, roughly 150 feet square, is now an open grassy space.
The castle’s history reads like a timeline of Irish conflict. It changed hands repeatedly: seized by the O’Connors in 1317, taken by the Mac Diarmada (MacDermot) clan in 1347, passed to the MacDonaghs in 1381, and reclaimed by the English in 1577. Governor Richard Bingham sacked it in 1584, it burned in the Spanish Armada year of 1588, and in 1598 it was sold to Red Hugh O’Donnell for £400 and 300 cattle. After the Battle of Kinsale it returned to English control, passing to the Taaffe family in 1610 until the Cromwellian confiscations of 1652. Williamite-war damage in 1690 sealed its decline, and by the 18th century the moat had been filled in and the structure stood as a ruin.
For all that, the castle was also a place of scholarship. The Book of Ballymote was compiled in or near the town around 1391, a manuscript preserving early Irish law, genealogy and mythology that included the key to reading ogham script. It is now held in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin.
Today the Office of Public Works keeps the site as a National Monument. The grounds are free and open year-round, but the interior chambers are locked, and that is the one thing worth knowing before you go: to get inside, collect a key from the Enterprise Centre on the grounds for a refundable deposit (call +353 71 916 1201 first). The floors inside are grass rather than stone, fine in dry weather and muddy after rain. If you have only twenty minutes, spend them at the north gatehouse, where the slot for the original portcullis still cuts the stone.
What to see on site
- Gatehouse and portcullis: The rectangular north gatehouse still bears the slot for the original portcullis, flanked by the surviving twin towers.
- Curtain walls and towers: Walk the perimeter for the three-quarter-round corner towers and the D-shaped mid-curtain towers; passages once let defenders move between them under cover.
- Underground legends: Local folklore claims hidden passages link the castle to the nearby Emlaghfad church, though no tunnel has ever been found.
Town life, markets and culture
A provisions market has run every Friday in Ballymote since the 19th century, and it is still the best reason to time a visit for the end of the week. The town also keeps a calendar of old fairs, held on the last Monday in January, 11 May, the first Monday in June, 3 September, the first Monday in November and the second Monday in December.
The Ballymote Heritage Group runs a heritage weekend each year around the August bank holiday, with lectures, walking tours and a fresh edition of the local journal, the Corran Herald. Out at the industrial park, the White Hag Brewery runs taproom tours and throws its Hagstravaganza beer festival each August.
On the edge of town stands the Fighting 69th Monument, unveiled in 2006 by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It sets a steel fragment salvaged from the World Trade Center into the memorial, honouring Brigadier General Michael Corcoran, who commanded the Irish-American 69th Infantry Regiment and was born at Carrowkeel, just outside Ballymote. Traditional music still turns up in the pubs, carrying on the legacy of the fiddler Paddy Killoran, and at the southern end of the main street the quiet ruins of a 17th-century Franciscan friary make a place to pause.
Walking and the countryside
The land around Ballymote is drumlin country threaded with marked trails. The Keash Hill loop is a gentle walk past the obelisk raised by Lady Arabella Denny, with views across the farmland towards Knocknarea.
About 5 km south of town, the Caves of Keash cut into a limestone outcrop known for its Ice-Age formations and its place in early Irish monastic lore. For anglers, the River Unshin and the nearby lakes hold good coarse fishing. Driving the area, the 18th-century Temple House (2 km west) and the Gore-Booth corn mill stand as quiet markers of the town’s former prosperity as a linen-weaving centre.
Practical information
- Getting there: Ballymote station is on the main Dublin–Sligo line, with regular Iarnród Éireann services. By road the town is reached via the R294 and R296, signposted from Sligo town.
- Parking: A free car park, with free coach parking, sits next to the castle grounds.
- Facilities: The town centre has a library on Teeling Street (opened 1949), a post office, several cafés and independent shops.
- Accommodation: B&Bs and guesthouses operate within walking distance of the castle and the square.
- Castle access: The grounds are open year-round. For the interior, collect a key from the Enterprise Centre on site (refundable deposit); call +353 71 916 1201 ahead for mobility or access questions.
- Best time to visit: Summer gives the most reliable footing for the hill walks and the festivals; spring and autumn bring quieter castle visits and better light across the drumlins.
Come on a Friday. The market is on, the castle key is a short walk away at the Enterprise Centre, and you can have the gatehouse to yourself before the chambers open up.