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Ireland might have just about the most photogenic castle in the world

Ireland might have just about the most photogenic castle in the world

It's a castle in the middle of a lake in Co. Roscommon that looks great on Instagram and is miles away from everything. Sign us up.

Mike Wood

Mike Wood

2020, eh. It's a year to make you want to disappear off into the wilderness and never come back. Well, it turns out that there is a place in Co. Roscommon that might be the perfect place.

McDermott's Castle is in the middle of Lough Key, on the appropriately named Castle Island. The whole lough itself is pretty remote - it's about 4km from Boyle, which is hardly a bustling metropolis itself - and the castle part of it can only be reached by boat.

The castle date back to the 12th century and was inhabited for hundreds of years. The traditional kings of the area, the Mac Diarmada dynasty who gave the castle its name, lived there and kept various incarnations of the castle. One of them was apparently destroyed by fire caused by a lightning bolt and, by the 16th century, it was reported as being empty.

It was inhabited again afterwards, however, and now the ruins that stand there date back from both mediaeval and more recent buildings. The last proper use of the castle was as a holiday home, but a fire during World War Two burned the structure to the ground and it has lain empty ever since.

Naturally, the place has developed a few myths and legends over the years. Back in the 13th century, it was the site of a siege during the Conquest of Connacht, which saw it attacked by catapults mounted on rafts in the lake, before being attacked with fire ships, which are exactly what they sound like: ships set on fire and then launched at something.

Around the same time, it was also the residence of the so-called Hag of Lough Key, a woman whom the owner of the castle, Cormac MacDermott, let stay over - only for her not to leave for a whole year.


McDermott's Castle actually went on the market to buy in 2018, costing just €90,000, but it was removed from the market and never sold. Today, it stands as an Irish National Monument. It's been no stranger to artists: WB Yeats wrote about it and Steve Coogan used it as a filming location in Moone Boy. If you know of any other sentences that feature a Nobel Prize-winning poet and the creator of Alan Partridge on the same level, do let us know.Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Ireland