A castle nobody left
Castle Fogarty burned in 1922, and the family living there did the unexpected thing: they stayed. The estate has never been sold, and a home was made from what the fire left, so the Gothic-revival shell near Thurles has been lived in continuously in the century since. It is on the market now through Savills, with talk of restoration and perhaps a tourist use, but for the moment it stays a private residence, which shapes everything about visiting it.
Also known as Fogarty Castle, it stands on a rise about 9 km north-west of Thurles and 21 km from Cashel, on a 102-acre estate carrying some 800 mature trees.
The O’Fogartys and after
The castle takes its name from the O’Fogarty clan, who held it as their seat until 1790. The family left their mark on the whole district: the surname Ó Fógartaigh means ‘descendant of the banished’, and their old territory of Éile Uí Fhogartaigh survives in the name of the barony of Eliogarty, around Thurles (Durlas).
In 1790 the estate passed by marriage to the Lanigan family, and in 1865 to the Ryans, who own it still. It was the Lanigans who gave the castle its present face, rebuilding the older structure in the 1840s as a Gothic-revival ‘castle’ with towers, crenellations, buttresses and a carved coat of arms bearing an Irish motto. The roofless ruin runs to around 4,305 sq ft.
During the War of Independence the castle was used as an RIC barracks in 1921, and it was gutted by fire the following year. Rather than walk away, the Ryans built a home from the surviving parts of the castle and its outbuildings, and have lived there ever since.
The O’Fogarty Harp
The estate’s best-known relic is the O’Fogarty Harp, a late-17th-century instrument that belonged to Cornelius O’Fogarty (1661–1730). It is on display in Tipperary County Library in Thurles, though accounts differ on whether it was sold, donated or lent, so it is worth confirming it is on show before making a trip for it.
Seeing the castle
Be clear before you go: this is someone’s home, not an attraction. There is no interior access, no tours and no visitor facilities. What you can do is see the outside, and that is worth doing. A public footpath runs along the estate wall, and from it, and from the public road, you get the best views of the towers, crenellations and courtyard without setting foot on private ground. Parking is a handful of spaces in a lay-by; there is no car park. Leashed dogs are fine on the road and footpath. Keep to the rights of way, and do not climb or lean on the walls.
For the setting, spring (April–May) is the pick, when the walled garden is in bloom; October, with the estate’s trees turning, is the other.
Nearby
- Ballynahow Castle – a well-preserved circular tower house about 3 km away.
- Thurles – 9 km off, with a riverside walk along the Suir, the Cathedral of the Assumption and Georgian streets.
- Devil’s Bit Mountain – about 15 km north, a flat-topped hill with marked trails and long views over the Suir valley.