Most of these are tower houses, the four and five storey stone boxes Gaelic families built in the 15th and 16th centuries, and Clare kept an unusual number of them standing. Bunratty is the one nearly everyone sees first, an O’Brien tower reroofed and refurnished in the 1950s with a 26-acre folk park beside it, ten minutes from Shannon Airport off the N18. Quin Abbey, near Ennis, is stranger: a Franciscan friary founded on top of a ruined de Clare castle, with three of the castle’s round corner towers built into the friary walls.
The rest sit mostly in the Burren. Doonagore’s round tower stands on the hill above Doolin, Ballinalacken’s on a limestone outcrop north of it, and Gleninagh looks across Galway Bay from the north coast. Leamaneh is roofless in a working field at the junction of the R476 and R480, taken in from the road. Dysert O’Dea, south of Corofin, is the one you can climb, with an enclosed roof-walk and a marked trail past forts and holy wells. Newtown Castle, at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, opens too, free, alongside its exhibitions.
Several are not visitor attractions at all. Dromoland, Gregans and Ballinalacken are hotels, Ballyportry rents as a single let, and Doonagore is a private home, so those are roadside or overnight visits. Dough Castle sits on a tidal sandbank at Lahinch, so go at low or mid-tide.
A 15th-century O'Brien tower house reroofed and refurnished in the 1950s, paired with a 26-acre folk park and nightly medieval banquets.
The tower house itself is closed, but the hotel built into its shadow holds a wildflower meadow above Galway Bay with the Aran Islands in view.
A McMahon tower house standing over the pier where Armada ships once sheltered, and the departure point for Shannon Estuary dolphin boats.
One of only three cylindrical tower houses in the Burren, a private home on the hill above Doolin and the most photographed castle in Clare.
An 1830s Gothic Revival rebuild on the old O'Brien estate, now a five-star hotel with a golf course, spa and lake near Shannon Airport.
14 of 15 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Bunratty, clare
Bunratty pairs a 15th-century O'Brien tower house, reroofed and refurnished in the 1950s, with a 26-acre folk park of rescued thatched cottages and an 1804 Georgian house. The castle runs medieval banquets nightly, and the whole site sits ten minutes from Shannon Airport off the N18.
Ballinalacken Castle, clare
A 15th-century O’Brien tower house on a limestone outcrop north of Doolin, with a 15-room country-house hotel built into its shadow in the 1930s. The ruin itself is closed to the public – only hotel guests get up close – but the setting, a wildflower meadow above Galway Bay with the Aran Islands and Cliffs of Moher in view, carries the visit.
Carrigaholt, clare
Seven Spanish Armada ships sheltered in Carrigaholt's bay in 1588, and the McMahons' 15th-century tower house still stands over the pier, now for external viewing only. The main draw today is the Shannon Estuary's resident bottlenose dolphins, watched from boats out of the Castle Pier, alongside seafood, sea angling and a small sandy beach.
Doonagore, clare
Doonagore is a round sandstone tower house on a hill above Doolin, one of only three cylindrical towers in the Burren. It is a private holiday home, so there is no way inside, but the roadside view is among the most photographed in Clare. Its dark chapter is the 1588 Armada, when 170 shipwrecked Spaniards were hanged here.
Newmarket-on-Fergus, clare
The O'Briens, who trace their line to Brian Boru, held Dromoland for centuries; the castle you stay in today is an 1830s Gothic Revival rebuild on the old estate. It is now a five-star hotel with a golf course, spa and lake, 15 minutes from Shannon Airport.
Dysert, clare
South of Corofin, Dysert O'Dea Castle pairs a restored 15th-century tower house with a 12th-century church and carved high cross. You can climb to an enclosed roof-walk for Burren views and follow a marked trail – 300 m or a full 5 km – past forts, holy wells and prehistoric monuments.
Gleninagh, clare
Gleninagh Castle is a well-preserved 16th-century L-plan tower house standing in a field on the north shore of the Burren, looking out over Galway Bay. A state-owned National Monument, it is free and unguided: park on the narrow lane and walk a few minutes across the field. The interior is closed, but the exterior, the nearby holy wells and the coast road make a good short stop.
Ballyvaughan, clare
Gregans Castle is a country-house hotel below Corkscrew Hill, a 1750 Georgian manor beside a medieval O'Loughlen tower house, looking out over the Burren to Galway Bay. It holds a Michelin Key, keeps televisions out of its rooms, and builds its dining room around foraged Burren produce. J.R.R. Tolkien stayed here in 1954.
Quin, clare
Quin Abbey is a Franciscan friary near Ennis, founded around 1433 by Síoda Cam MacNamara directly on top of a ruined de Clare castle from the 1280s. Three of the castle's round corner towers survive, built into the friary, and the cloister is among the best preserved in Ireland. It is a free OPW national monument with an active graveyard and few facilities.
Corofin, clare
Ballyvaughan, clare
West End, clare
clare
The Burren, clare
Ballyvaughan, clare
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