Clifden Castle

Clifden Castle was built by John d'Arcy in a Gothic Revival style between 1812 and 1815. In the latter half of the 19th century due to famine and a change in the D'arcy family fortunes Clifden Castle fell into disrepair. Few photographs remain of this one time noble house but they can be seen in some of the local history books or in the town's library. The house fell into ruin and was stripped bare of anything that could be sold by the locals in order to feed themselves. One of the interesting features of this property are the standing stones. D'Arcy had these stones erected to mimic other standing stones around Ireland. Today little remains of the house but its shell. You can walk through the house through an entrance through the back "garden", as the front entrance is inaccessible because of a steep drop into the structure.