Ireland · 15th century
Thoor Ballylee ranks #3,819 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #58 of the 178 mapped in Ireland. Founded c. 1450, it is older than 46% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 556 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,304 times in the last 60 days, more than 58% of the atlas. 7 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Galway, 26 km away. See how Ireland compares in the castle statistics.
Thoor Ballylee Castle (Irish Túr Bhaile Uí Laí) is a fortified, 15th-century Anglo-Norman tower house built by the septs de Burgo, or Burke, near the town of Gort in County Galway, Ireland. It is also known as Yeats's Tower because it was once owned and inhabited by the poet William Butler Yeats.
It has been described as "the most important public building in Ireland" by late Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney.
Text adapted from “Thoor Ballylee” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
View on the interactive castle map →