Thoor Ballylee was regarded by the late Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney as ‘the most important public building in Ireland’. Its close association with the poetry and family of W.B. Yeats makes it an iconic landmark for the area and for the country, and a resonant site for literary pilgrims from across the globe. Thoor Ballylee is set on the bank of the Streamstown River, a tributary of the Cloone River, near the market town of Gort in Co. Galway.
Thoor Ballylee began its life as a fortified tower built by the de Burgo or Burke family. The Burkes had established themselves in Connaught after 1200, becoming Earls of Clanrickarde, and the demesne formed part of their large estates. The original tower was probably a timber-built fortress, as Hiberno-Norman-built stone castles did not come into vogue until the 15th century. The present imposing stone tower dates from around this time. The nearby low-lying four-arched bridge was built around 1825. According to NUI Galway’s landed estate database, by 1837 the Carrig family was recorded as living in what was known as Ballylee Castle. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation (1857), Patrick Carrick was leasing a herd’s house, castle, and land at Ballylee, Barony of Kiltartan, from William Henry Gregory. The property was valued at £5.
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