Pallas Castle,
County Galway
The remarkably complete and well-preserved tower house was built by the Burkes sometime around 1500. It has four storeys and an attic, the third floor being vaulted and the thick end wall containing a tier of mural chambers and a winding stair. There are attractive mullioned windows in the fourth floor and a number of fine fireplaces on various levels, though the oven on the ground floor is a secondary addition. The roof was still thatched in the early part of the present century, the bottom being covered with stone flags for protection.
The tower stands in one corner of a large well-preserved bawn, which has internal steps and parapets, a two-storey gatehouse (rebuilt) and a pair of round flankers with gun ports. Near the tower at the west end, there is a rectangular flanker, an 18th-century malt-house and the remains of a large 17th-century gabled house.
3.2 km (2 miles) E/SE of Duniry off the Portumna Road. NGR: M 757074
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