Clonmore Castle

Clonmore Castle stands in the village of Clonmore, County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland. An Anglo-Norman fortress, it is generally dated to the 13th century, with the trefoil window in its south wall suggesting a construction date towards the end of that century. The earliest documented reference comes from 1332, when Sir Anthony de Lacy is recorded carrying out repairs.

Built of roughly coursed granite rubble, the castle is close to square in plan, with rectangular towers at its two southern corners and smaller turrets at the others. It changed hands repeatedly over the centuries: in the 15th century it was among several castles granted to the Earl of Ormond, it was captured by the Earl of Kildare in 1516 and again by the Earl of Ormond in 1598, and it was finally taken by Cromwellian forces under Colonel Hewson in 1650.

Today the castle survives as a ruin. Much of the structure is covered in ivy, sizeable gaps have opened in the north and west walls, and the interior stands empty, though windows, stairways, chambers and narrow passages can still be traced. The site sits within the wider historic setting of Clonmore, where the village graveyard nearby preserves high crosses and carved stones linked to an early monastery associated with St Mogue.