Galway’s ghostly ruins
Local legends tell that Castle Daly is meant to be haunted by the echoes of a wild party which can be heard from within the ruined walls of the castle.
Galway is one of my favourite counties in Ireland to visit when searching for ruins off the beaten track and when looking for folklore. Every stretch of the county is peppered with ancient monuments and fascinating heritage sites.
My debut book, , features almost 50 sites, and seven are from County Galway, more than any other county, showing how many incredible heritage sites there are in the area. Since I started researching my book 15 years ago, I have always made it a priority to visit County Galway at least once a year, as there are so many wonderful ruins to explore.
One such ruin is Hag’s Castle (otherwise known as Tullokyne Castle), near Moycullen, which has some very interesting stories to tell. Originally, two castles stood on the site where Hag’s Castle stands today, and the two castles were within spitting distance of each other, it is said. Only one castle remains today, as the other castle fell in the ‘Great Storm’, more famously known as ‘Oíche na Gaoithe Móire’ (Night of the Big Wind), in January 1839. The storm of 1839 is remembered in Irish folklore as the worst tempest to hit Ireland in many centuries.
One of the legends associated with Hag’s Castle is that of the two hags (witches) who lived side by side in the two castles. The hags were sisters, and they couldn’t stand each other. Every day, the sisters would berate each other from the towers’ highest windows. Eventually, the hag who owned the castle that still stands today could take the arguments no more. So she killed her sister and all of a sudden was left all alone. Now that she had no one to argue with, she suddenly felt extremely lonely and without purpose. The last hag soon shuffled off this mortal coil due to her miserable solitude and she followed her sister to the grave. It is said that even in death the sisters could not be buried beside each other or they would continue their incessant bickering into eternity!
Some castles are just made to be horror film sets. A distinctive ruin which would be perfect for such a venture is Castle Daly, formerly called ‘Corbally Castle’. The shell of the manor house at Castle Daly, which connects two towers at the site, looks like two eyes and a crooked mouth, silently watching you. I loved one of my photographs of Castle Daly so much that it actually became the front cover for my book!
The castle in its heyday was said to frequently host extravagant balls and ostentatious parties on nights such as New Year’s Eve. Local legends tell that Castle Daly is meant to be haunted by the echoes of a wild party which can be heard from within the ruined walls of the castle. Everything seems merry until the raucous celebrations turn to screams and cries of help. Just to keep in line with local lore, I visited this bleak castle as night was descending one New Year’s Eve…
One of my favourite ruins in all of County Galway is the stunning Tyrone House. There is a haunting solemnness in the faded grandeur of Tyrone House, which was built in the 1770s by the St George family. During the War of Independence, in the year 1920, Tyrone House suffered a similar fate to many other grand houses across the country when it was burnt down by the IRA. Rumours started circulating around that time that Tyrone House was to be used as a barracks for the Black and Tans. Evidence of the fire is still visible in parts of the house today. Even though Tyrone House has been exposed to the elements for the past 100 years, some of the plaster frescos with beautiful designs still remain in sheltered parts of the house, some even still have small flecks of paint.
A tragic ghost story still reverberates through the walls of Tyrone House. Locals tell the story of Christopher St George of Tyrone House, who fell in love with a Catholic girl and married her in secret. Christopher St George’s family were stalwart Protestants and when they discovered his illicit marriage, they disowned him. In protest, his ghost is said to still roam the ruins of the house, never to be at peace in death due to the injustice he suffered in life.
Galway also has the distinction of having perhaps the most haunted battlefield site in the whole of Europe at Aughrim. The Battle of Aughrim was fought in 1691. Thousands died at this site in a battle between the forces of William of Orange and James II.
The most famous ghost associated with the Aughrim battle site is a phantom greyhound, which is said to paralyse all who hear its bark or howl with fear. The origins of this tale are that a Jacobite soldier, who later was killed at the site, had his greyhound with him at Aughrim. After the soldier’s death, despite the coaxing of people after the battle, the hound never left his master’s side and its spirit is said to linger on at the site to this day. So many Jacobite soldiers lay dead at the site that feral dogs in the area started eating their bodies. As the dogs had gotten a taste for human flesh, many had to be put down because of the danger they posed to the surviving population nearby.
These are just a few of the haunting, imposing ruins that can be found scattered across Galway, waiting to be explored and their stories uncovered. Some ruins are open to the public and easily accessible; others require permission from landowners. These ruins are part of our heritage and are rich with history and stories - they should be treat with care and respect, and always leave them as you found them.
