O'Brien's Tower marks the highest point of the Cliffs of Moher, a very popular tourist destination in County Clare, Ireland. It is located a short distance from the villages Doolin and Liscannor.

History
The tower was built on the cliffs in 1835 by local landlord and MP Sir Cornellius O'Brien as an observation tower for the Victorian tourists that frequented the cliffs at the time: ""strangers visiting the Magnificent Scenery of this neighbourhood"". It is said to have initially served as a teahouse, featuring a large round table with seats of ironwork.[1]:29

Another version tells of O'Brien building the tower in order to impress women he was courting. On a clear day the view can extend as far as Loop Head at the southern tip of Clare and beyond to the mountains of Kerry. Looking north from O'Brien's Tower on clear days, the Twelve Bens in Connemara (also known as the Twelve Pins) beyond Galway Bay can be seen, and typically the Aran Islands to the west.

O'Brien's Tower

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Moher Tower (Irish: Túr an Mhothair; historically Moher Uí Ruis or Moher Uí Ruidhin)[1] is the stone ruin of an old watchtower which stands on Hag's Head, at the southern end of the Cliffs of Moher, located in County Clare, Ireland.

History
The current tower stands close to the site of an earlier fortification, known as Mothar or Moher, a promontory fort. This earlier fortification stood until at least 1780 and is mentioned in an account from John Lloyd's a Short Tour Of Clare (1780).[2] This earlier fortification was demolished in 1808 to provide material for a new telegraph tower. This was built nearby, as a lookout/signaling tower during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).[1][3] Similar towers were built along Atlantic coasts to counter fears of invasion during Napoleon's reign in Europe.

Construction and use
The building is a single, nearly square, tower with two rectilinear bartizans protruding from the top of its eastern wall, and one from the western wall, which faces the Atlantic Ocean. The original structure appears to have incorporated a fireplace on at least 2 floors, and a dry stone roof which has since mostly caved in. The roof itself has a short parapet which appears to have been more for protection from falling than to have served any defensive purpose.

In summer the tower ruin is occupied by the many choughs and similar birds native to the area. The tower is sometimes used as a refuge by visitors to the Cliffs of Moher who become stranded on the southern cliff path during storms that whip in off the Atlantic.

Moher Tower

Doonagore Castle is a round 16th-century tower house with a small walled enclosure located about 1 km above the coastal village of Doolin in County Clare, Ireland. Its name may be derived from Dún na Gabhair, meaning ""the fort of the rounded hills"" or the ""fort of the goats"". Doonagore Castle is at present a private holiday home, inaccessible to the public.

History
A castle was built on (or near) the site of an even earlier ringfort by Tadgh (Teigue) MacTurlough MacCon O'Connor some time during the 14th century.[1]:99

The current structure likely dates from the mid-16th century. Unlike most tower houses in the region, this was built not from limestone but from sandstone drawn from the quarry of Trá Leachain (Flaggy Beach) about 2 km to the southwest.[1]:99

In 1570, it was owned by Sir Donald (or Donnell) O'Brien of the O'Brien dynasty and in 1582 it was occupied by Brian MacCahill O'Connor. In 1583, much of the property in the area was surrendered to the Crown and regranted to Turlough O'Brien of Ennistymon. Doonagore soon fell to the MacClancy (or Clancy) family, the hereditary brehons or lawyers of the O'Briens.[2][1]:101

In September 1588, a ship of the Spanish Armada was wrecked below the castle. One-hundred-seventy survivors were caught by the High Sheriff of Clare, Boetius Clancy, hanged at Doonagore Castle[2] or on a nearby Iron Age barrow near Doolin called Cnocán an Crochaire.[1]:103


After the 1641 rebellion Doonagore was granted to John Sarsfield in the Cromwellian settlement.[1]:101

In the late 17th or early 18th century, the castle came into the possession of the Gore family, resulting in the false etymology of ""Gore's Castle"". They repaired the castle in the early 19th century, but by 1837 it had once again fallen into a state of disrepair.[1]:101

It was restored in the 1970s by architect Percy Leclerc for a private purchaser, an Irish-American named John C. Gorman[2] whose family still owns it.

Doonagore Castle

Leamaneh Castle is a ruined castle located in the townland of Leamaneh North, parish of Kilnaboy, between the villages of Corofin and Kilfenora at the border of the region known as the Burren in County Clare, Ireland. It consists of a 15th-century tower house and a 17th-century mansion.

Name
The castle's name ""Leamaneh"" is believed to be derived from the Irish léim an éich which, when translated into English means ""the horse's leap"" or léim an fheidh (""the deer's leap"").[2]:38 It is also sometimes spelled ""Lemeneagh Castle"".

Location
The castle is located at an important local crossroads and the place where the Baronies of Burren, Corcomroe and Inchiquin met. Today the road R476 from Kilfenora to Kilnaboy village and the R480 north to Ballyvaughan intersect there.[3]:119

History
Early structure
The castle was originally a basic, 5-storied Irish tower house which was built circa 1480-90, probably by Toirdelbhach Donn MacTadhg Ó Briain, King of Thomond of the O'Brien family, one of the last of the High Kings of Ireland and a direct descendant of Brian Boru.[4]

In 1543, Turlogh Donn's son, Murrough surrendered his title of King to Henry VIII and was created in 1st Earl of Thomond and Baron Inchiquin. In 1550, Murrough gave Leamaneh to his third son, Donough. Donough was hanged in Limerick in 1582 as a rebel.[4]

Manor house
In 1639, Donough's grandson, Conor O'Brien married Máire ní Mahon (MacMahon).[4] She became one of the most famous women in Irish folklore who, due to her flaming red hair, was commonly known asMáire Rúa (""Red Mary""). She was born in 1615 or 1616. Her father was Sir Torlach Rúa MacMahon, Lord of Clonderlaw and her mother was Lady Mary O'Brien, daughter of the third Earl of Thomond. Her first husband, Daniel O'Neylan (also sometimes written O'Neillan or Neylan) of Dysert O'Dea Castle in north Clare died young and upon his death, she gained control of his substantial estate and a £1,000 fortune. This wealth enabled her and Conor to build a more comfortable mansion on to the tower house.

Part of the tower house was demolished and replaced by a 4-storied mansion around 1648. Máire accompanied her husband on raids against English settlers. In 1651, he was mortally wounded fighting on the Royalists' side at Inchicronan (Crusheen). Reportedly, immediately after her husband's death, the widow, realizing that the punishment for his rebellion against the English would be the forfeiture of their property, drove to Limerick and offered to marry any Cromwellian officer who would take her hand.[2]:40[4] (This is refuted in other versions of the story which state that Máire Rúa didn't marry until 1653, two years after Conor's death.)

General Ludlow, who commanded the English Parliament forces at Inchicronan subsequently conducted counter-insurgency operations in the Burren, making his well-known statement about the area's barrenness. He went on to say about Leamaneh ""and finding it indifferent strong, being built with stone and having a good wall about it, we put a garrison into it and furnished it with all things necessary"".[2]:40

Rúa's third husband, Cornet John Cooper was a Cromwellian soldier and through this marriage she successfully retained her estates.[4] Cooper left the army and amassed some wealth through land and property speculation. However, he later ran into financial difficulty and, as a result, the estate which he had married into at Leamaneh, which he under law now owned through his wife, was mortgaged to repay his debts.

In the 1660s, Cromwellian troops were stationed on and off at Leamaneh. Máire Rúa's son, Donagh or Donough (after 1686 Sir Donat) found the tower and manor damaged but stayed there until 1684/1685, when he moved the family seat from Leamaneh to the much larger Dromoland Castle in Newmarket-On-Fergus, south of Ennis.[4]

Although Máire Rúa's children from her first marriage to Daniel O'Neylan (or O'Neillan) were raised Catholic, Sir Donagh/Donat was brought up as a Protestant and eventually became the ""richest commoner in Ireland."" He built ""Sir Donat's Road"", connecting Killnaboy and Leamaneh, a toll road, the flanking stone walls of which are still visible in places. The gate houses at which tolls were collected have since been demolished.[3]:122

He served as Sheriff of Clare in 1690 and as MP for Clare from 1695 to 1713. He died in 1717.[3]:122[4] By 1678, the estate had been increased to over 10,000 acres of land.[3]:122

Recent past

Leamaneh had various occupants in subsequent years. However, the house finally fell into ruin at the end of the 18th century. The barbican-like gates which adorned the entrance to the property were moved to Dromoland Castle in 1906 or 1908 by Lord Inchiquin. They are still there.[3]:121[4]

The most elegant of the fireplaces was relocated to the ""Old Ground Hotel"" in Ennis.[3]:122

Today
Today, the ruins include both the tower house with its arrow slits (or ""loops"") and the four walls of the adjoining manor house with their mullioned and transomed windows. The latter features a Trompe-l'œil effect, as the windows of the upper floors are smaller, creating an illusion of greater height. Some of the remains of the outbuildings and the walled gardens/deer park can still be seen. Unlike many of the castles in Ireland, Leamaneh is unmaintained and due to its poor state of repair not accessible. It is located on privately owned land and the area is used for farming.