Iconic Norman fortresses, cliffside strongholds, and tower houses
#1 Classiebawn Castle is a country house on the Mullaghmore Peninsula near the village of Cliffoney in County Sligo, Ireland. It was built in the late 19th century for British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston (1784–1865) on what was then a 4,000-hectare (10,000-acre) estate.
Strancally Castle (from Irish Srón Chaillí, meaning 'nose of the hag') is a castellated country house in County Waterford, Ireland. It was built around 1827 near the site of an earlier castle overlooking the River Blackwater, close to the town of Tallow, County Waterford and Youghal, County Cork. Several structures in the demesne are listed on the Record of Protected Structures maintained by Waterford City and County Council.
#3 Westport House in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland, is a Georgian country house, historically the family seat of the Marquess of Sligo and the Brownes. The house was designed by the architect Richard Cassels with later additions by Thomas Ivory and James Wyatt. The title and the house were separated in 2014, following the death of Jeremy Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo, who left the estate to his five daughters. His titles passed to his first cousin, Sebastian Ulick Browne, a residential estate agent in Australia. In 2017, the house was purchased by the Hughes family, owners of Portwest.
#4 Glenveagh Castle (Irish: Caisleán Ghleann Bheatha) is a large castellated mansion located in Glenveagh National Park, County Donegal, Ireland and was built in about 1870.
#5 Curraghmore near Portlaw, County Waterford, Ireland, is a historic house and estate and the seat of the Marquess of Waterford. The estate was part of the grant of land made to Sir Roger le Puher (la Poer) by Henry II in 1177 after the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. Since then, the De La Poer Beresford family has owned these estates. It is the oldest family home in Ireland.
#6 Markree Castle is a castle located in Collooney, County Sligo, Ireland. It is the ancestral seat of the Cooper family, partially moated by the River Unshin. Today it is a small family-run hotel. In the 1830s the Observatory on the grounds of the Castle had the largest refracting telescope in the world. What today is known as the asteroid 9 Metis was discovered there in the 1840s by the Coopers' observatory staff.
#7 Moydrum Castle (Irish: Caisleán Maigh Droma meaning "plain of the ridge") is a ruined castle situated in the townland of Moydrum in County Westmeath in Ireland, just to the east of Athlone. The property is privately owned.
#8 Gurteen de la Poer, or Gurteen le Poer, is an Elizabethan Revival house in County Waterford, Ireland, situated on the south bank of the River Suir, close to Kilsheelan and about 8 km east of Clonmel. The estate belonged to the de la Poers, an Anglo-Norman family whose affiliation with the Catholic Church led to their eventual expulsion from the Protestant English establishment. Edmund, 1st Count de la Poer, 18th Lord le Poer and Curraghmore, a Knight of Malta and Private Chamberlain to Pope Pius X, commenced the building of the present castle in 1863 to replace an earlier house which itself replaced a yet earlier house. The large baronial house was designed by Samuel Ussher Roberts (1821–1900), great-grandson of the 18th century Waterford architect John Roberts. The design of Castle Gurteen was probably influenced by Scottish architect William Burn, an architect responsible for several Tudor-Baronial mansions in Britain. Construction began 1863 and was completed in 1866. After the completion of Castle Gurteen, Samuel Ussher Roberts also designed Kylemore Castle (now Kylemore Abbey) in County Galway. A number of features used at Gurteen were also used at Kylemore, and the same builder, Thomas Carroll, worked on both castles.
#9 Ardgillan Castle is a country house near Balbriggan, County Fingal, Ireland. It is set in the 200-acre (0.81 km2) Ardgillan Demesne (Irish: Ard Giolláin), a public park in the jurisdiction of Fingal County Council.
#10 Castle Oliver (also Clonodfoy) is a Victorian castle-style country house in the southern part of County Limerick, Ireland. Built for entertaining rather than for defence, it has a ballroom, drawing room, library, morning room, dining room and hall which feature hand-painted ceilings, decorated ornamental corbels, superbly executed stained glass windows and stencil work. The castle stands on massive terraces and has a commanding view over much of its former 20,000-acre (81 km2) estate. The castle has Ireland's largest wine cellar, said to hold approximately 55,000 bottles.