4 castles, from Norman keeps to the tower houses that Gaelic and Anglo-Irish families raised in their hundreds — and the ones that are now four walls and a jackdaw.
Ballinafad Castle, also known as the Castle of the Curlews, is located in the south of County Sligo, Ireland. It is at the village of Ballinafad, on the east side of the N4 road, overlooking Lough Arrow. The castle is in ruins and is accessible year round. There are no tours, guides, or fees.
Ballymote Castle (Irish: Caisleán Bhaile an Mhóta) is a large rectangular keepless castle, built around 1300. It is located in the townland of Carrownanty on the outskirts of Ballymote in southern County Sligo, Ireland.
Markree Castle is a castle located in Collooney, County Sligo, Ireland. It is the ancestral seat of the Cooper family, partially moated by the River Unshin. Today it is a small family-run hotel. In the 1830s the Observatory on the grounds of the Castle had the largest refracting telescope in the world.
Temple House is a Georgian mansion set in an estate of over 1,000 acres (400 ha). It overlooks the lakeside ruins of a castle formerly of the Knights Templar, and is now a country guest house. Originally built c. 1825, it was substantially extended and embellished c. 1864.
Descriptions are Wikipedia's own opening lines, used under CC BY-SA 4.0 with a link to each article; the list and the coordinates come from the same place. Nothing here is a guide to access — many of these are private homes or stand in private fields.
What stood in Sligo before anybody thought of building a keep.