Lynch's Castle
Late-medieval limestone tower house with gargoyles, carved coats of arms and Spanish-style mouldings.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Lynch's Castle on Shop Street in Galway follows the Lynches, one of the fourteen Anglo-Norman merchant tribes of the walled medieval port, from the royal charter of fourteen eighty-four that let the town choose its own mayor. It reads the carved front for clues: a Tudor king's arms, a Latin blessing, an ape with a child. It also turns to the most famous tale told about the family, and asks how far back it really goes. Best heard on the corner of Shop Street and Abbeygate Street, facing the carvings.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
The Browne Doorway
Freestanding carved stone doorway and window from a merchant mansion, bearing two family crests.
Lynch Memorial Window
Medieval stone window and plaque set in a churchyard wall, tied to a mayor who hanged his own son.
Merlin Park Woods
Large urban woodland of native oak, ash and hazel, with a medieval tower house hidden on its trails.
Kirwan's Lane
Medieval stone laneway named for a merchant tribe, once home to an eighteenth-century theatre.
Spanish Arch
Surviving arches of a sixteenth-century city wall on the old quays, damaged by the 1755 tsunami.
Hall of the Red Earl
Excavated thirteenth-century hall under glass, once the town's tax office, courthouse and banquet room.