Athenry Castle, near Craughwell
For a castle visit that fits into a walk around a medieval town.
The story behind Athenry Castle
Start with the doorway: the carved flowers around the entrance to the Great Hall are an unexpectedly delicate detail on a building designed to assert power. Meiler de Bermingham established this castle in the thirteenth century. Its tall hall-keep and enclosing walls make sense together with Athenry's surviving town defences.
What you will see
Inside are the basement, Great Hall and an upstairs film about the castle. This is a good choice if you want to understand the building rather than simply photograph its walls. Leave time for the streets and Dominican priory nearby.
Resized and converted to WebP. Display may be cropped; the full photograph is linked.
Seasonal admission
OPW lists opening from 13 March to 5 November 2026. Until 21 October the hours are 09:30 to 18:00, with last admission at 17:15; the final part of the season closes an hour earlier. Adult admission is €5. A car park is listed. Upper levels involve stairs and access is limited.
Check the official visitor information ↗Sources and checks
- Office of Public WorksVisitor access, admission and architecture. Checked .
- Fáilte IrelandFoundation and town setting. Checked .
- Kind
- Castles
- From Craughwell
- 7.8 km north, in a straight line
- Run by
- Office of Public Works
The map does not yet record a phone number for Athenry Castle. Anyone can add it on OpenStreetMap, and this page picks the change up at the next refresh.
Getting to Athenry Castle
About these directions
Public transport times come from National Transport Authority. Timetables cover 2026-09-18 to 2027-09-19. These are scheduled services; check with the operator for cancellations and changes before travelling.
Walking and driving times are estimates. A town search starts at its centre; choose your location or a point on the map for a more precise starting point. Eircode search is not available.
How journey planning worksDestination, access and nearby stops
Athenry Castle is in Craughwell, County Galway. Routes here end at the point the map records for this place. No entrance has been verified, so the last few metres are for you to judge.
The nearest scheduled stop is Athenry (999162), 320 m away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.
- Athenry 320 m
train railScheduled departures from this stop
Getting to Craughwell covers the journeys into the town itself.
Other castles in Craughwell
Nearest to Athenry Castle first, and the figure beside each one is how far it is from Athenry Castle, in a straight line. Same point, same measure.
- 4.3 km
- 5.7 km
- 5.9 km
- 7.7 km
- 7.8 km
- 8.6 km
- 8.9 km
- 9.0 km
- 11 km
- 11 km
- 11 km
- 12 km
Questions people ask
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Where this comes from
- From the map
- The name, the kind of place, the address where the record carries one, and any website, phone or opening hours shown as recorded on the map are tags on OpenStreetMap way/182944517, and can be corrected there.
- Worked out here
- Every distance, the nearest road where the record has no address, which car park and which stop are nearest, and the order of the lists are this site’s own calculations from those records. Distances are straight lines between two points, not walks along the footpaths, and the map will route the real walk on request. A mistake in any of this is a mistake here rather than on the map.
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