Ballymote Castle, Norman castle in County Sligo, Ireland

Ballymote Castle is a large rectangular keepless enclosure castle built around 1300, the last Norman castle in Connacht and the most symmetrical of the Irish keepless castles. Its north wall holds a double-towered gate with twin D-shaped towers, and three-quarter round towers stand at all four corners and mid-way along the east and west walls. The walls are about 3 m thick, with passages roughly 0.91 m wide running through them to the towers and curtain walls.

Richard de Burgo, Earl of Ulster, built this fortress in 1300 as the final Norman fortification established in Connaught. It subsequently changed hands repeatedly between English and Irish forces, marking the end of major Norman expansion in the region.

The stronghold served as a focal point of power that shifted between English and Irish hands for generations. Local people today understand the ruins through the lens of these struggles for control that shaped the region.

The ruin stands on the R296 Ballymote–Tubbercurry road, opposite Ballymote railway station and just past the Catholic church. Access is through the grounds of the Ballymote Community Nursing Unit. The German source adds that the key is available for a small fee at the Enterprise Centre on Grattan Street, open Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm and often at weekends in summer.

The interior measures about 300 square metres, not 30 metres per side. Passages roughly 0.91 metres wide run through the centre of the walls, linking the towers and curtain walls at different heights for attack or defence. A postern gate planned for the south wall was never finished, probably because the castle fell to the O'Connors in 1317.