Rockfleet Castle

Rockfleet Castle stands near Newport, Ireland; it was constructed in the mid-16th century under the ownership of Sir Richard Burke (Risdeárd an Iarainn). Sir Richard, who also operated nearby iron-processing works and held lands around Burrishoole, is the first recorded proprietor of the tower house.

In 1566 Sir Richard married Gráinne Ní Mháille, commonly known in English as Grace O’Malley. She initially shared the castle with her husband, used the tower as a place of refuge, and kept at the site a fleet of roughly twenty ships engaged in maritime raiding. After Sir Richard died in 1583, Gráinne remained at Rockfleet. When English forces captured part of her fleet and took her brother, she opened negotiations and thereafter abandoned her piratical actions, and the castle thereafter declined in strategic importance.

Ownership passed to the Arbuthnot family during the 18th century. In the first half of the 20th century Owen O’Malley, a direct descendant of Gráinne, bought the tower and carried out repairs following the Irish Civil War. The property later came into the possession of a United States ambassador to Ireland. The site is recorded in the National Monuments list and is held under Guardianship. Over time the castle’s name has been anglicized to Carraigahowley, often rendered as Carrickahowley.

The tower occupies a tidal position at the mouth of a narrow sea inlet on the north shore of Clew Bay, a location chosen in part because regular tides and flooding made a prolonged siege difficult. Visiting arrangements have varied in reports: at times the castle has been described as open without charge during summer months, in other accounts as open year-round, and in other reports access was formerly public but has been restricted on safety grounds. Conservation and access interventions in recent years include installation of a metal walkway from the adjacent meadows to the castle door in 2015 to address high-tide access, and exterior repointing work carried out in 2017. Local tradition holds that a treasure once kept in the castle is buried in nearby fields and that disturbing it will bring the Headless Horseman.