romoland Castle is located in County Clare, in Newmarket-on-Fergus. It is considered one of the finest examples of a baronial style castle in Ireland,¹ and has an elegant and regal atmosphere with a beautiful interior, surrounded by a huge golf course, scenic woodlands and a lake.

The original castle on the site is said to have dated back to the eleventh century, and was more rustic in nature than the existing castle of today, similar in style to the Bunratty castle. Dromoland was owned by the O’Brien clan, “an ancient, Gaelic family of royal blood, whose ancestry dates back to the time of Brian Boroimhe (Boru), one of the High Kings of Ireland during the tenth century.” Like other castles of the times, it served as a defensive stronghold. “In 1543, the chief of the O’Brien Clan, who was also known as Morrough, or the Prince of Thomond, was forced to surrender his royalty to King Henry VIII after which he became known as the Baron and Earl of Inchiquin. From the time of Morrough O’Brien, (the original owner of Dromoland) until the 17th Baron of Inchiquin — who still owned the castle in the 1960’s — the Inchiquin Family lived at Dromoland for more than one thousand years.” ²

In 1736, a second castle was built in the design of the Queen Anne period, with a wing enclosing a central courtyard. ³ This wing of the castle remains today and is almost a century older than the other parts of the castle. The rest of the castle was completed in 1826 in a gothic style, with four large towers made of grey stone, cut from a nearby quarry and built at great expense for the times. During the latter portion of the 19th century, the Inchiquin family wealth dwindled due to a series of Land Acts, until Ireland won its independence from British rule in 1921. Landlords during this time were forced to sell their farmlands, and so the Inchiquins lost their main source of income. However, they were able to still hold onto the castle. At one point, IRA leaders in Dublin tried to destroy Dromoland castle during the revolutionary war against Britain, but it was spared due to the generosity of its owner, Smith O’Brien, who in spite of his artistocratic background, fought for the rights of oppressed Irish peasant farmers, leading the rebellion against the British authorities at this time. Although the loss of income suffered by the Inchiquins made the castle difficult to keep, they managed to do so, and the castle was maintained by the personal wealth of the 15th Baron of Inchiquin’s wife, and after, her son, Sir Donough O’Brien, until 1948, when they began to take in tourists as paying guests. Finally, in 1962, the castle was sold by the present Lord of Dromoland (Inchiquin), to an American industrialist by the name of Bernard McDonough, whose family was also of Irish descent. Over a period of six months, the castle underwent major renovations and was eventually reopened as a luxury hotel. The original style and atmosphere of the castle are said to have been preserved, and the rooms “look very much today, like they did when the Inchiquin family lived there... including its stately, baronial country house atmosphere.” ⁴

The original wing is very interesting inside. It has an elegant two-story, stone lobby complete with suits of armor, a large, dark wood carved table and elegant tapestry-covered chairs. On one side a stone passage/hallway leads to the large, main drawing room of the castle which has a high ceiling, deep red and gold wallpapered walls, and is lined with portraits of barons and former noblemen and women of the Inchiquin family. At the other end of this hallway is an octagonal-shaped library encased in one of the castle turrets, serving today as a cocktail bar and sitting room. It has a very high ceiling with walls that have built-in bookshelves that now hold the wine bottles. The lower portion of the walls are carved panels of the same dark wood. The library walls are covered in an elegant gold wallpaper, and are home to a collection of charming Staffordshire porcelain dogs, each perched on its own individual shelf, spaced randomly at different heights in between the drapes and bookshelves. The drapes are made of an elegant gold and gray striped fabric with large tassles. An elegant dark wood, carved doorway leads to the adjacent dining hall known as the “Earl of Thomond,” which is decorated in a gold and olive green elegant velvet wallpaper with matching drapes similar to the library and drawing room drapes. The drapes and wallpaper merge at the top with an intricate gold and white ceiling molding, (also found in the library) that finishes off the two rooms of the dining hall. There are white marble, carved fireplaces in both the dining room as well as the library and drawing rooms. The walls of the dining hall are, like the drawing room, also covered with distinguished looking portraits of the Inchiquin family, complete with Waterford crystal chandeliers, which all lend to the regal atmosphere.

Back in the drawing room which adjoins to the hallway, at the opposite end to the library is a huge, carved wooden staircase that goes to the upper level of the castle. On each of the bannisters of the staircase are three carved lions which represent the castle’s crest, and which also appear on the front exterior of the castle’s original entrance, carved in stone.

As a visitor to the castle, you feel as though you are immersed in the history of a bygone era, reinforced by the rural landscape, woodlands, and vistas that surround it.

To see more photos of the castle, visit its website at: www.dromoland.ie.

Historical facts on Dromoland Castle and the Inchiquin Family borrowed/compiled from: "A Brief History of Dromoland Castle," a two-page essay published by Dromoland Castle.