67 Old Ruins to Explore in Connacht

A two hundred year old, traditional, thatched cottage, which was located in Strandhill, County Sligo. It is the only one of its kind in the area. IT is a stone built cottage with two rooms and a loft with original walls, roof, roof beams, fireplace and pouch bed. The cottage is named after Dolly Higgins, the last person to live here. It is open to the public at weekends during the summer months.

Donamon Castle is one of the oldest inhabited buildings in Ireland with the first recorded reference is in the Annals of the Four Masters for the year 1154. It was the seat of the Ó Fionnachta chief of Clann Chonnmhaigh, one of the two main branches of this Connacht family. In late 1932, an IRA unit, under the command of Seán McCool and Mick Price, took over Donamon Castle to set up an IRA training camp.

Drumanone is a large dolmen with 6-1/2 foot portal stones and a 6-1/2 foot doorstone. The capstone, which has slipped to cover the chamber, is almost 15 feet long and almost 10 feet wide. The sides of the chamber are each composed of a single stone. It has been estimated that the tomb was built prior to 2000 B.C.

Dun Aengus is over 3,000 years old prehistoric hill fort on the Aran Islands of County Galway. It was perched spectacularly on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, the fort is about 900 metres from the visitor centre and offers views of up to 75 miles of Irish coastline. As much of the tour is outdoors, visitors are advised to wear weather protective clothing and shoes suitable for walking over uneven terrain.

A majestic 16th-century tower house on the southeastern shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. The castle comprises of a 75 foot tower and defensive wall against a stunning backdrop making this castle – the most photographed castle in Ireland. The castle served as one of the strongholds built by Guaire’s descendants, Lords of Aidhne, O’Heyne or Hynes, chieftains in 1520. It was one of minimally nine fortifications built in the region.

Dunsandle Castle is a 15th century castle built by the De Burgo family. It is fully accessible and has an exceptional charm with its location in the middle of the forest and its stones full of history. It is filled with unique architectural features to include a great hall with tie beams, it’s groin vault construction, an 18th century ice house, a murder hole and remains of a bawn with a defence tower featuring gunloops.

Elphin Windmill is a fully restored 18th-century tower mill in Elphin, County Roscommon, viewed as a rare piece of Irish industrial architectural heritage. It is a round, three stage structure with a thatched revolving roof of organic rye. The sails are positioned into the wind by means of a pole attached to a cartwheel which revolves on a circular grooved track on the ground. The mill provided corn meal for the local people, as well as milling flax.

Ross Errilly Friary is the largest and best preserved Franciscan Friary in Ireland. is a National Monument of Ireland and among the best-preserved medieval monastic sites in the country. Though usually referred to by locals as "Ross Abbey," this is not technically correct as the community never had an abbot.

Glinsk Castle is situated in the River Suck valley and was the principal residence of Lord of Clonconway, Mac David Burke and was built in the mid 17th century, on the site of an earlier castle. The main entrance way was on the first storey on the south side, between the two towers. The interior walls and floors have gone. One of the most impressive features remaining are the prominent chimney stacks in the end walls.

Carrickkildavnet Castle is a tower house and National Monument located in Achill Island, Ireland. It is located in the southeast corner of Achill Island, across from the Corraun Peninsula. This is an important strategic site, protecting the mouth of Achill Sound and the passage that connects Clew Bay with Blacksod Bay.

This is the largest mound of stones in Ireland, a full 60 metres in diameter. Surrounded by mossy limestone kerbs and lined all around with beautiful chestnut trees, the cairn is unique in that it is located on low ground. It was constructed c. 3000 BC and is believed to enclose a passage grave. Legend marks this cairn as the site of the famous healing well of Dian Cecht, a magician and healer of the great T'uatha De Danaan, one of the original occupying tribes of Ireland.

Hennigan's Heritage Centre is situated in unspoilt countryside overlooking Creagaballa Lake 6.5km from the workhouse at Swinford where thousands of people from the region died during the 19th century due to starvation, and 20km from The Museum of Country Life, Turlough.

This is a faormal beautiful monastery and National Monument located in Lough Key, Ireland. It is located on Church Island, an island of 2.1 ha in the western part of Lough Key.

Kilmacduagh Abbey is a 7th century Irish monastery located near Gort, County Galway. Half in ruins, the building has an exceptional charm, worthy of the greatest remains in Ireland. It was founded by Saint Colman, son of Duagh in the 7th century, on land given him by his cousin King Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin of Connacht. This site was of such importance in medieval times that it became the centre of a new diocese, or Bishop's seat, the Diocese of Kilmacduagh, in the 12th century.

Kiltyclogher Heritage Centre is located in Kiltyclogher, County Leitrim. It houses an exhibition about the 1916 Proclamation signatory Seán MacDiarmada. The exhibition contains an audio visual facility and interpretive panels, providing visitors with information about Seán MacDiarmada and the history of the locality.

Knock Shrine, in County Mayo, is an international place of prayer and pilgrimage dating back to August 1879, when fifteen people from the village witnessed an apparition. It is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site and national shrine in the village of Knock, County Mayo, Ireland, where locals claimed to have seen an apparition in 1879 of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saint John the Evangelist, angels, and Jesus Christ.

Knocknashee is one of Ireland’s largest Bronze Age hillforts. It consists of a limestone top with shales underlying the lower slopes. It is an enclosed hill fort with limestone ramparts containing cairns, burial chambers and hutsites. The fort is 700 metres long and 320 metres wide and is enclosed by two earth and stone ramparts covering an area of 53 acres.

Magheraghanrush Court Tomb is a court cairn and National Monument located in County Sligo, Ireland.The tomb has a 15 metre long oval court with a single gallery at the west end and two double chamber galleries at the east end. At the entrance to two of these chambers the lintels have fallen, one lintel remains but as you can see from the picture top left, this one has split. This particular court tomb has a passage entrance on the south side.

Manorhamilton Castle was built during the plantation of Leitrim by Sir Fredrick Hamilton in 1634. The massive ruins of this 17th century stronghold dominate the picturesque town of Manorhamilton. The Castle around which the town grew has a dramatic and colourful history – stories of which live on in the town to this day.