Did your Family Live in an Irish Castle?

I often get asked – “did my family own Irish Castles?” It’s the ultimate fairy tale – Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses all living in beautiful old castles.

Between the early 13th century and the late 16th century – about 1400 castles and towerhouses were built across the island of Ireland. First built by the Normans – and then copied by the Irish Chieftains and lords. According to my reseach – the following are the family names in Ireland during this time who built a castle/towerhouse. Many are still standing and even lived in. Some are ruins – and some more are reduced to just a site.

Is your family name here? Agnew, Archer, Archibold, D’Arcy, Aston, Audley, Baggot,  Balfour, O’Bannon, Barrett, Barry, Bellew, Bellingham, Bermingham, Bissett, Blake, Blennerhassett, Bouchier, Boyle, O’Boyle, Brabazon, Brady, MacBrien, O’Brien, Briscoe, Brown, Browne, Brunker, Burke, Butler, O’Byrne, O’Cahan (Kane), O’Cahill, O’Callaghan,  Campion, Cantillon, Cantwell, Carew, O’Carroll, McCarthy, O’Casey, Caulfield, Cheevers, MacClancy, O’Clery, Cloghessy, Codd, Cogan, Cole, Condon, O’Connor, Cope, Coppinger, Costello, Cotter, DeCourcey, McCoughlan,  Coyne, Creagh, Creighton, O’Crowley, Cuffe and Cusack.

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Dalton, Dalway, O’Daly, O’Dea, McDermott, Devereaux, Dillon, O’Doherty, McDonagh, Donnellan, McDonnell, O’Donnell, O’Donnelly, O’Donghue, O’ Donovan, Dowdall, O’Dowd, Dowling, Downing, O’Driscoll, Drummond, Duffy, Dunne, O’Dwyer, MacEgan, McEnery, Esmonde, Eustace, Staunton, McFall, Fallon, O’Farrell, Ferriter, Ffrench, Finnerty, Forbes, Fitzgerald, Fitzgibbon, Fitzmaurice, Fitzpatrick, Fitzstephen, Fitzwilliam, O’Flahery, Fleming, O’Flynn, Fogarty, Forrestal, Fox, Galwey, O’Gara, McGovern, McGeoghegan, McGillicuddy, Glennon, Gore, McGorman, Grace, O’Grady, Grant, McGrath, Gray, Griffin, Gulifoyle, Gunning, Hackett, O’Hagan, O’Hallinan, Hamilton, O’Hanley, O’Hanlon, Hannon, O’Hara, Harrington, Hart, Hayes, Haynes, O’Healy, Hearns, O’Hennessy, McHenry, McHugh, O’Higgins, Hodnett, O’Hogan, Hore, Howel, Howlin, Hume, O’Hurley, Hussey, Hyde, O’Hynes, McInerney

Irvine, Johnston, Jones, Jordan, Joyce, Kavanagh, Keane, Kearney, Keating, O’Keefe, O’Kelly, O’Kennedy, Kilkelly, Kirwan, DeLacey, Lambert, McLaughlin, Lawless, O’Leary, Lehane, Locke, Loftus, Lombard, Long, O’Loughlin, Luttrell, Lynch, O’Madden, Magennis, Magner, Magrath, Maguire, McMahon, O’Mahony, O’Malley, O’Mannion, Marshall, Martin, O’Meagher, O’Meara, Mitchell, O’Molloy, Mooney, O’Moore, O’Moriarty, Morris, Mortimer, Mulvihill, Nagle, McNamara, McNeill, O’Neill, Norris, Norton, Nugent, Ormsby

Parsons, Phelan, Phillips, Plunkett, Power, Prendergast, Purcell, McQuillan, Quinn, Redmond, O’Reilly, Reynolds, Roche, Rocheford, O’Rourke, Rushe, Russell, Ryan, Savage, O’Shaughnessy, Shaw, O’Shea, McSheedy, MacSheehy, Shortall, Sinnott, Stewart, O’Sullivan, Supple, Sutton, MacSweeney, Sweetman, Taafe, Talbot, Tierney, Tobin, Troy, Tuitte, Tyrell,  Wall, Walsh, Whelehan and White.