Menlo Castle

Menlo (or Menlough) Castle, County Galway, in 2010. Overgrowth has since been removed.
The ruined castle ruin is on the bank of the River Corrib

Menlo Castle or Menlough Castle (Irish: Caisleán Mhionlaigh),[1] also called Blake's Castle, is a 16th century castle situated on the bank of the River Corrib near Menlo village in County Galway, Ireland.

History

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Menlo Castle is built on the site of, and incorporates portions of, a mid-16th century tower house.[2][3] Several sources date the original tower house to 1569,[4] and it was recorded as being occupied by a Thomas Colman in 1574.[2] Later occupied by the Blake family,[4] the castle was extended to include a two-bay four-storey block during the 18th century.[5][6] There is a square turreted structure on the building's eastern end.[6]

The castle was home to the Blake family for several centuries until it was destroyed by fire in the early 20th century. On 26 July 1910, while Sir Valentine Blake (14th baronet) and Lady Blake were away in Dublin, a fire broke out in the castle.[7] The body of their disabled daughter, Eleanor, was never found and she is presumed to have died in the fire.[8][9]

The castle was largely left to ruin following the fire, and the Blake estate was divided by the Land Commission in 1923.[10] The castle site and its surrounds were acquired by Galway City Council under a compulsory purchase order (from five separate land owners) in July 2000.[11][12]

References

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  1. ^ "Caisleán Mhionlaigh / Menlough Castle". logainm.ie. Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b N6 Galway City Transport Project - Route Selection Report - GCOB-4.04-009 - Issue 1 - 16 March 2016 (PDF) (Report). Galway City Council. 2016. p. 584. Menlo Castle [..] was in existence in 1574 when it was in the possession of 'Thomas Colman' (Nolan 1901, 115), although there is some debate as to the exact location of the original structure. It may have been incorporated into the later 17th century house.
  3. ^ Gosling, Paul, ed. (1993). Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. I - West Galway. Dublin: Government Stationery Office. GA082-064---- [..] In existence in 1574 [..] Athy (1914, 155-60) at first thought that it may have stood within the walled and battlemented square enclosure, 40m to E of the present ruined house. However, in a footnote, she also noted that 'the N wall [of the ruined house] and adjacent parts of the E and W walls, are 2ft [0.6m] thicker than the rest'. These walls [..] may well have been part of the original castle, later incorporated into the 17th-C house
  4. ^ a b "The Blakes of Menlo Castle". turtlebunbury.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020.
  5. ^ "1720 – Menlough Castle, Galway". archiseek.com. Retrieved 17 October 2021. sixteenth-century tower house which has been altered and enlarged at various periods – notably with a two-bay four-storey block of c.1720
  6. ^ a b "Menlough Castle, Menlough, Menlough, Galway". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  7. ^ Kenny, Tom (2009). "The Fire at Menlo Castle". Galway Advertiser. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Abandoned Menlo Castle". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Menlo Castle, Co. Galway". Abandoned Ireland. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Blake (Menlo)". Landed Estates Database. National University of Ireland Galway. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. The Blakes lived at Menlo Castle until the fire of 1910 and the estate was divided by the Land Commission in 1923
  11. ^ "Menlo Castle in Ireland". abandonedspaces.com. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Council hasn't paid for land 13 years on". connachttribune.ie. Connacht Tribune. 27 June 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
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53°17′47″N 9°04′25″W / 53.2965°N 9.0735°W / 53.2965; -9.0735

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