General & History

The Tower House is just that – a solitary tower that had to be built not only to be lived in, but more particularly to be lived in safely. In the fifteenth century, this required the construction of such castles in miniature as this one, which is one of the very few examples that survives intact (and certainly the only one you can rent for a holiday), because the chieftains of the Gaelic clans who still then held sway over the remoter reaches of Ireland mostly occupied their time in sporadic internecine warfare. This of course was in the days before Oliver Cromwell and the Protestant Ascendancy put an end to that way of life forever – with Cromwell around, the Gaelic chiefs no longer needed to slaughter each other, as he was only too happy to oblige by doing it for them.

With Oliver Cromwell and his marauding bands no longer active, the West of Ireland is now a much more tranquil place in which to take a holiday. A remote, rugged and beautiful terrain looking out across the Atlantic, the area has been described as the soul of Ireland, with out of the way pubs serving fresh seafood in picturesque fishing villages, and seals splashing around off the coast of Galway Bay. And at night, you can retreat back into the Tower House, safe from seafood, seals and Oliver Cromwell alike.

There you will find, courtesy of the American architect who spent the 1960s and 1970s rehabilitating the dilapidated ruin he found, central heating, bathrooms and an ensuite shower, as well as a waterbed – and why not? There are even hammocks slung upon the roof in which to swing beneath sun and stars. The present incumbents, suitably an artist and an archaeologist, have built on this new beginning, while tempering the previous owner’s conception with a more contemporary and welcoming feel.