Dunsandle Castle is a 15th-century castle near

Athenry Athenry (; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th century street-plan. The town is also well known by virtu ...

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

, in

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 ...

History

Dunsandle Castle is referenced by Nolan, J.P. Galway Castles and Owners in 1574 Nolan, J.P. Galway Castles and Owners in 1574 (Barons of Kingestowne Athenry) the owner being Villig Osebeg of Dunsandle. The castle was first held by the De Burgo (Burke) family, acceded to the Dalys and has recently been restored under the guidance of the architect David Newman Johnson. Dunsandle Castle is replete with unique architectural features including a great hall with tie beams unusual in Irish architecture of this period. Also unique to Dunsandle is its

Groin Vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: L ...

construction. This was first exploited by the Romans, but then fell into relative obscurity in Europe until the resurgence of quality stone building brought about by

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

and

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

. Difficult to construct neatly because of the geometry of the cross groins (usually elliptical in cross section), the groin vault required great skill in cutting stone to form a neat arris. This difficulty, in addition to the formwork required to create such constructions, led to the rib vault superseding the groin vault as the preferred solution for enclosing space in

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...

. Dunsandle also has an 18th-century ice house, remains of a later extension and Bawn with defence tower complete with gunloops. The castle is surrounded by native Irish woodland.

References

Sources

* Nolan, J.P. Galway Castles and Owners in 1574 (Barons of Kingestowne Athenry)

External links

Official Web site
Castles in County Galway Historic house museums in the Republic of Ireland Museums in County Galway {{Galway-geo-stub