Newtown Castle,
County Clare
Like a rocket on its launch-pad, this unusual 16th-century tower house takes the form of a cylinder impaled upon a pyramid. The castle was originally built by a sept of the O'Briens and later passed into the hands of the O'Loughlins (O'Lochlainns) - self-styled "Princes of the Burren". It was still inhabited by the family at the end of the 19th century, but later fell into ruin. In the 1990s the castle was restored as an exhibition centre for the adjacent Burren Art College.
2.5 km (1.5 miles) SW of Ballyvaughan. NGR: M 217064.
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