Garbally Castle
Description
Garbally Castle is the dominant feature of the townland of Garbally in the parish of Skehana and sits at the junction of the R338 and the access road to St Kerrils Abbey. It was built in 1499 by Malachy O'Kelly as a tower house, the Kelly clan being renowned in Ireland at this time as builders of fortresses. The castle was destroyed by MacWilliam De Burgo in 1504.
Garbally Castle is a ruin which has its interiors exposed. The castle is constructed as a three-storey tower around square floorplan. The most damaged side is on the southwest and here the thick side walls can be seen, with their mural passages, and there is a vaulted ceiling on the first floor. There is a pointed arch doorway on the southeastern wall which is overlooked by a gun loop in the south jamb and there is also a murder-hole. The parapets of the northeast and southeast walls retain the corbels which supported the machicolations. There are some windows in the north eastern wall, with three of them being simple slits.