Clifden Castle

Das Schloß anzuschauen war nur Mittel zum Zweck, da wir dort einen Geocache loggen wollten. Bei der dürftigen Vorgeschichte dieses potthäßlichen Baus (immerhin erst 1812 erstellt) haben wir uns auch eine intensivere Betrachtung erspart. Die Ruine ist überwiegend mit Holz abgesperrt, ansonsten gäbe es dort sicher noch irgendwelche alternativen Mystiker, die dort Feste feiern würden.
Für den Weg dorthin sollte man unbedingt feste, ggf. auch wasserfeste Schuhe einplanen, da der Feldweg wirklich schön matschig sein kann.
Aufenthalt August 2015

This castle is brilliant! It is pretty derelict, but I used to love playing here when I was a child. It’s best in Autumn when the hill behind the mountain turns purple from all the pretty lavender.
I agree with Hugh that this place wouldn’t be good for families with a buggy! we normally climb over the barbed wire fence to get close to the castle. It is also not an ideal place for dog-​walking either, as there are often animals in the fields leading up to the castle.

I read about this derelict castle on the tourist brochures, and thought it looked like an ideal place to take the kids. It was a bit of a pain to find. The tourist guides tell you to take the Sky Road out of Clifden until you see an Arch on the left, and to walk from there. What causes the confusion is the sign someone has erected next to the arch to say it’s a private entrance.
If you ignore the sign and walk through the arch, it’s a fair walk down a very rough, very narrow road to the castle. We had a buggy, and it was difficult in places to manage with the rough stone road surface. What was more difficult was trying to make room for a rather ignorant jeep driver that passed us twice forcing us up towards the barbed wire fence with a buggy and two young kids. He seemed to be a resident on that road that wasn’t too happy to have tourists around. Perhaps the sign was erected by him! I don’t recommend visiting the castle if have a buggy. Also, boots would be a good idea. The last stretch of road to the caste was a mixture of mud and cow pats! Not ideal for the tourist with the white shoes and trousers we met while there :-)
The castle itself is quite impressive. It looks like what most kids expect a castle to look like. All entrance doors and lower floor (basement?) entrances have been blocked. However there are some windows at ground level on the outside, and a drop of about 8ft on the inside. So be careful if you have young kids.
Well worth the walk to see a fairly well preserved castle, and nice views down towards the bay and beaches.