Killahara Castle

Killahara Castle is a 16th-century tower house built around 1550 for Donagh O'Fogartie, chief of the O'Fogartie clan who controlled large areas of North Tipperary. Located near Thurles in the villages of Dovea and Loughmore, approximately 15 minutes from the Dublin to Cork motorway, the castle features a large tower with a superb cruciform shot hole covering the front door. Built upon an outcrop of limestone rock, the entrance presents a dramatic threshold with the ground falling away into a quarry below. Following O'Fogartie's death in battle in 1583, ownership passed through his widow to the Purcell family. After being burnt out by the Black and Tans in 1921, the castle underwent comprehensive restoration approved by North Tipperary County Council in 2008.