Gowran Castle, Early 19th-century country house in County Kilkenny, Ireland

Gowran Castle is an early 19th-century manor house built between 1816 and 1819 to designs by William Robertson for Henry Agar, 2nd Viscount Clifden. It replaced an earlier castle on the same site and was fully restored between 2013 and 2014.

The first castle was built in 1385 by James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond, who made it his usual residence. It was rebuilt in 1501 by Margaret FitzGerald, Countess of Ormond, and badly damaged when Cromwell attacked in 1650. Henry Agar built a new castle nearby in 1713 using materials from the former castle, and the present house was rebuilt in 1816–1819 for Henry Agar, 2nd Viscount Clifden, to designs by William Robertson.

St Mary's Collegiate Church stands in the village of Gowran, not on the castle grounds. James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond, who died at the castle in 1405, is buried there with his father, grandfather and great-great-grandfather Edmund Butler. Several generations of the Agar family, owners of the castle for some 300 years, were also buried at the church.

The house has been closed to visitors since 2004, but you can view the exterior from the streets around Gowran village. Walking around the perimeter gives you different views of the front elevation and its architectural details.

Gowran Castle was besieged by Oliver Cromwell's army in 1650 and badly damaged; the present house, built 1816–1819 to designs by William Robertson, replaced the earlier Butler castle. The Agar family, who held the estate for some 300 years, are buried at St Mary's Collegiate Church.