A treasure trove

Kilgobbin Castle

Smaller castles like Kilgobbin were referred to as ‘tower houses’. The Walsh family built the castle and their descendents lived there for many years. This castle is haunted by a man in armour and by a woman who carries something into the castle. Supposedly there was treasure buried there but this has not been proven.

Kilgobbin Castle

Kilgobbin Castle

Smaller castles like Kilgobbin were referred to as ‘tower houses’. The Walsh family built the castle and their descendents lived there for many years. This castle is haunted by a man in armour and by a woman who carries something into the castle. Supposedly there was treasure buried there but this has not been proven.

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Kilgobbin Castle

This castle was built by the Walsh family and was inhabited until the eighteenth century. The remains provided valuable information to archaeologists about the layout of a tower house. They were small castles with a single large room on the ground floor and a corner tower with a projection for the staircase. The castle, like many others in the area was haunted.

Courtesy of the National Library

Kilgobbin Castle
Courtesy of the National Library

Kilgobbin Castle

This castle was built by the Walsh family and was inhabited until the eighteenth century. The remains provided valuable information to archaeologists about the layout of a tower house. They were small castles with a single large room on the ground floor and a corner tower with a projection for the staircase. The castle, like many others in the area was haunted.

Courtesy of the National Library

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Kilgobbin Castle is another good example of the 'Subsidised Castles Act' in operation. It bears all the characteristics of a tower house. They were really small castles and shared certain features. Kilgobbin Castle consisted of a single large room on the ground floor, with a vaulted ceiling.

There was also a corner tower that projected out and the staircase was located on this projection. At the top of the tower battlements were positioned for defensive purposes.

The Walsh family are credited with building the castle and they certainly lived there for many years. By the eighteenth century it was no longer inhabited but remained intact to a large extent for many years afterwards. The remains provided detailed information on the layout of the tower house and this has proved very valuable to historians.

This castle also shares the distinction of being haunted. A man wearing armour supposedly walked around the nearby cottages at night. Also it is rumoured that a woman goes into the castle to collect something golden in colour and comes back out again. That story about the woman links closely with the other rumour about the castle, namely that there was buried treasure found there. There were two rooms in the castle, known as money rooms, where the treasure was supposedly buried.

Several locals became wealthy and there was no obvious reason discovered for this. Nothing has ever been proven. Another theory is that the Goban Saor (master builder of the castle) buried the treasure in the castle before leaving to work in France and did not return.

Whether or not any of these stories are true has never been proven conclusively but there is no doubt that they add to the folklore surrounding the castle and the area. Physical landscape often holds many secrets, some of which remain a secret forever.