Castle Carra is a

hall house The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples wer ...

and

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

located in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Location

Castle Carra is located west of

Carnacon Carnacon or Carrownacon () is a village, townland and area in central County Mayo, Ireland. It is situated about from Castlebar, and is about from Claremorris and Ballinrobe. Village Carnacon is situated on the shores of a mayfly fishing lake, ...

, on the east bank of Lough Carra. It lies on the edge of Black Hole, the deepest part of the lake.

History

Castle Carra was built by Adam de Staunton (Staundun), an Anglo-Norman subject of the

de Burgo The House of Burgh or Burke (; ; ; ga, de Búrca; la, de Burgo) was an ancient Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman and later Hiberno-Norman aristocratic dynasty (with the Anglo-Irish branches later adopting the surname Burke and its variants) who h ...

, in the 13th century. The

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...

bawn A bawn is the defensive wall surrounding an Irish tower house. It is the anglicised version of the Irish word ''bábhún'' (sometimes spelt ''badhún''), possibly meaning "cattle-stronghold" or "cattle-enclosure".See alternative traditional spe ...

, outbuilding and gateways were added by the MacEvilly (Mac an Mhilidh). The castle was surrendered to the Crown in the 1570s and granted to Captain William Bowen, who strengthened the bawn with a circular flanker with gunloops facing inland. Sir Roebuck Lynch's lands were seized by the Cromwellians and he was compensated by lands at Castle Carra during the early seventeenth century. It passed to Sir Henry Lynch, 3rd Baronet in the 1660s, and his descendants held it until the 19th century.

Building

Castle Carra is a rectangular

References

National monuments in County Mayo Castles in County Mayo {{Ireland-castle-stub