{{Infobox building | name = Castleboy Tower | native_name = | native_name_lang = ga | image = Castleboy Tower 2026.jpg | image_size = 200px | image_alt = <!-- or | alt = --> | image_caption = Castleboy Tower in 2026 | pushpin_map = Ireland | pushpin_map_alt = | map_caption = | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_label = | status = | building_type = Folly tower | architectural_style = | classification = Ruin | location_town = Castleboy, Killinan, County Galway | location_country = Ireland | coordinates = {{coord|53.1508|-8.69889|display=inline}} | namesake = | construction_start_date = | construction_stop_date = | est_completion = 1800–1840 | renovation_date = | cost = | ren_cost = | owner = | affiliation = | height = | architectural = | top_floor = | other_dimensions = | structural_system = | material = Limestone | floor_count = 5 | floor_area = | grounds_area = | architect = | developer = | engineer = | designations = | known_for = | number_of_rooms = }}
'''Castleboy Tower''' is a 19th-century folly in the townland of Castleboy, Killinan, County Galway, Ireland. It was once part of the Castleboy House demesne owned by the Persse family and was perhaps converted into a folly from an earlier building. It is built of squared limestone over five floors, with a number of windows and an arched doorway. Following the demolition and division of the Castleboy estate by the Land Commission, the tower was left stranded on one side of a newly constructed road. Along with some walls of the stable yard, the tower is all that remains of the estate.
==History== Castleboy Tower was built around 1800.<ref name="NBHS">{{cite web|url=https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/30411405/castleboy-castleboy-co-galway|title=Castleboy, Castleboy, Galway|publisher=National Built Heritage Service|access-date=22 January 2026}}</ref> It was constructed with snecked squared limestone. It is circular in shape and has five floors, with pointed and round-headed windows and a pointed arched doorway.<ref name="NBHS"/> Further openings are square-headed and have relieving arches. The very top of the tower has a number of round-headed openings.<ref name="NBHS"/> An assessment by the National Built Heritage Service branded the tower an "impressive eye-catcher" and felt it makes "a strong impression in the landscape" with its façade "enlivened by tooled stone detailing."<ref name="NBHS"/>
The tower was once part of the Castleboy House demesne and estate owned by the Persse family,<ref name="LE">{{cite web|url=https://landedestates.ie/property/673|title=Castleboy|publisher=Landed Estates|access-date=22 January 2026}}</ref> who also lived at the nearby Roxborough estate, which was the birthplace of Lady Gregory.<ref name="RTE">{{cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/category/environment/2024/0111/1426030-fairytale-galway-homes/|title=A castle for a home|date=30 January 1979|publisher=RTÉ|access-date=19 January 2026}}</ref> Writer and former vice-president of the Irish Georgian Society, Robert O'Byrne believed the tower may have been converted into a folly from an earlier building on the site.<ref name="O'Byrne">{{cite web|url=https://theirishaesthete.com/2021/06/05/17618/|title=A Final Trace|last=O'Byrne|first=Robert|date=5 June 2021|publisher=The Irish Aesthete|access-date=15 February 2026}}</ref> When the Land Commission demolished and divided up the Castleboy estate, the tower was left standing on one side of a newly constructed road, which allowed access to the farms nearby.<ref name="O'Byrne"/> Only the tower and some walls from the stable yard remain of the estate.<ref name="LE"/>
In January 1979, Castleboy Tower was featured in an RTÉ News report on the popular trend of restoring towers and castles in County Galway. An estate agent told reporter Jim Fahy that the tower had been attracting enquires from all over Ireland, as well as Europe and America.<ref name="RTE"/> He did not know what the "great interest is" in towers like Castleboy, but he told Fahy that people wanted to "do them up" and live in them.<ref name="RTE"/> He also pointed out that the tower might attract buyers in literary circles as it was in the centre of the Irish Literary Revival, with its connection to Lady Gregory and close proximity to Edward Martyn in Tullira and Count Florimond de Basterot in Duras.<ref name="RTE"/> He estimated the cost to purchase the tower with a quarter of an acre of land was £10,000.<ref name="RTE"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/30411405/castleboy-castleboy-co-galway Castleboy Tower] at the National Built Heritage Service
Category:Folly towers Category:Towers completed in the 19th century Category:Ruins in the Republic of Ireland Category:Buildings and structures in County Galway Category:Folly buildings in the Republic of Ireland