Castle Burke is a roofless five-storey tower of about 1570 on the northern shore of Lough Carra, County Mayo. The Mac Evilly clan (anglicised as Staunton) built it and knew it as Kinvoynell; it took its present name once the lands passed to Miles Burke, 4th Viscount Mayo, and it turns up in the records as Castle Bourke too. The southern and eastern walls have collapsed, but enough of the tower stands to read its shape from the lakeshore.
Be honest with yourself about what this is: no car park, no signage, no ticket desk, and about half an hour’s worth of ruin. Come for the quiet and the lake, not a polished heritage day out, and read up on the Bourkes beforehand, because the stones tell you nothing on their own.
The Cromwellian garrison
The castle’s most concrete story belongs to the 1650s, when it held a Cromwellian garrison: 85 soldiers under Captain Solomon Camby were stationed at Castleburke. The wider campaign against Catholic clergy was brutal here, and in 1658 the Archbishop of Tuam reported that priests in the area were hiding in woods, mountains and caves by day. That is the history worth carrying in your head as you walk around the walls.
The tower
The tower stood within a bawn, the walled courtyard fortified with corner turrets, and the surviving stonework still shows gun loops, pointed doorways and the line of the mural stairs that climbed through the upper floors. A garderobe (the medieval latrine) opened off a mural passage on one of the main chambers. It is the layout of a confident, well-off family in an unsettled century, and the core of it survives despite the two collapsed faces.
Look up while you’re here: the tower is a known nesting site for common swifts, so on a summer evening you’ll likely have them wheeling overhead.
Visiting
A word of caution before you set out: the castle and an adjoining 17th-century house are privately owned protected structures, and the site has been offered for sale in recent years. This is not a managed visitor attraction. Treat it as a place to look at from the lakeshore rather than a building to go inside, keep off the unstable walls, and don’t climb into the collapsed sections.
Practical information
- Getting there: a private car is really the only practical way in; public transport to the immediate area is minimal. Ballinrobe is about a 15-minute drive away, and Castlebar lies roughly 15 km to the northwest.
- Terrain and footwear: the ground around the castle is rough and uneven, with low ruined walls underfoot. Wear proper walking shoes.
- Time to allow: about 30 minutes is plenty.
Pair the stop with Ballinrobe to the south, give it the half hour it deserves, and read the Bourke and Cromwellian history first, since there’s not a word of it posted on site.