The 5 Best Castles in Ireland

A Publication of

DUBLIN CASTLE

Dublin Castle was the seat of British

imperial power in Ireland for 700 years.

A former military and intelligence

garrison, Dublin Castle now serves as

an Irish government venue for state

banquets and hosting official visits.

Queen Elizabeth II was welcomed to

Ireland in May 2011 with a lavish dinner

and Champagne served from Waterford

Crystal at St. Patrick’s Hall– the

grandest chamber of the castle.

BLARNEY CASTLE

The most famous Irish castle of them

all? Maybe this has something to do

with the legions of fans who besiege the

castle every summer, departing with the

gift of eloquence (full of Blarney) having

kissed a certain fairytale stone.

Confused? So are we, but we’re not

going to argue with the thousands of

happy travelers who take our Blarney

Castle Day Trip!

ROCK OF CASHEL

The Rock of Cashel is not really a castle

– but how could we leave this bad boy

out? It was here that St. Patrick

converted the King from Celtic

Paganism to Catholicism in the 5th

Century.

The Rock proudly stands over the plains

of Tipperary, and contains one of the

most important collections of Celtic

architecture to be found anywhere in

Europe.

DUNLUCE CASTLE

Dunluce keeps watch over Co Antrim

with very steep drops into the North

Atlantic Ocean on all sides – in fact this

is probably why the Vikings built a

defensive fort here many years before

the current castle.

In 1588 the Spanish Armada sailed into

the area to pick a fight with Imperial

England – thinking the nearby Giant’s

Causeway was actually Dunluce Castle,

they destroyed a section of the World

Heritage Site with cannon fire.

KILKENNY CASTLE

This castle is without doubt one of the

highlights of medieval Kilkenny. A 12th

Century masterpiece which was

remodeled over the centuries, this

citadel is different to many castles in

Ireland because it has an aristocratic

Victorian feel to the interior.

Pay a visit to see how the other half

lived – in this case a powerful family of

Norman lords – the Butlers (Dukes of

Ormonde).

Get More In-Depth Reviews in our Ireland Travel Guide

www.KennedyCarr.com