Classiebawn Castle, Country house in Cliffoney, Ireland.
Classiebawn Castle is a country house on the Mullaghmore Peninsula in County Sligo, Ireland. The yellow-brown sandstone structure shows a central tower with a conical roofed turret and stands directly above the cliffs facing the Atlantic Ocean.
Viscount Palmerston, British Prime Minister, began construction in the 1860s, but the house remained unfinished after his death. His stepson William Cowper-Temple completed the work in 1874, turning the estate into a livable summer residence.
The name comes from the Irish Clasach Bán, meaning "white trench," though the sandstone walls appear more yellow-brown than white. Locals still associate the building with its former summer residents, whose presence shaped the small peninsula community for over a century.
The estate is privately owned and not open for tours, but the exterior view is clearly visible from several public spots along the coastal road. The best view appears from the beach below or from parking areas near Mullaghmore harbor.
Lord Mountbatten, the last long-term resident, died in 1979 when a bomb exploded on his fishing boat off the coast. The act happened during the Troubles and shaped the memory of the region to this day.
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