There are three interesting things to see in Killybegs.
One of them is the Kit's Castle. It sits on a low hill overlooking the town harbour.
It was built in 1355 as the residence of the Bishop Pádraig Mac Maonghaill of Killybegs, who died in 1367, and it seems that originally it would have stood up to three storeys high with an entrance on its west side.
One of the castle's most famous residents was the Bishop Dónal Mag Congail, anglicised into Donald McGonagle, who died in 1589 and was one of the three Irish representatives at the closing sessions of the Council of Trento.
The last resident at the castle was the Bishop Niall Ó Baoighill (Niall O'Boyle), a strong opponent to the British invasion in Ireland. He left the castle in 1601, after the defeat of Kinsale. The Bishop died in 1611.
The castle was never lived in afterwards and fell in ruin.
Unfortunately today only a sad and ruinous segment of the northwest (310°) wall survives, all the rest is missing or hidden by the vegetation.
|