Fiddaun Castle is a tower house

Tower house

A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...

 in Tubber, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

, in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

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History

Fiddaun is a mid-16th century Irish tower house in the Kiltartan

Kiltartan

Kiltartan is a barony in County Galway, Ireland. It was formerly known as Cenél Áeda na hEchtge. It was the home of Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn, and a regular residence of W.B. Yeats.It is alluded to in Yeats's poem An Irish Airman Foresees His Death....

 barony of the Uí Fiachrach Aidhne

Uí Fiachrach Aidhne

Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne was a kingdom located in what is now the south of Co. Galway.-Legendary origins and geography:...

, one of four O'Shaughnessy

O'Shaughnessy

Ó Seachnasaigh, O'Shaughnessy, collectively Uí Sheachnasaigh, clan name Cinél nAedha na hEchtghe, is a family surname of Irish origin.The name is found primarily in County Galway and County Limerick...

 castles. This tower house is most noted for its well preserved inner bawn

Bawn

A bawn is the defensive wall surrounding an Irish tower house. It is the anglicised version of the Irish word badhún meaning "cattle-stronghold" or "cattle-enclosure". The Irish word for "cow" is bó and its plural is ba...

 wall and situated between Lough Doo and Lough Aslaun near the modern village of Tubber. It is located on private land and maintained by the Office of Public Works

Office of Public Works

The Office of Public Works is a State Agency of the Department of Finance in the Republic of Ireland...

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Fiddaun was most likely built by Sir Roger Gilla Dubh Ó Seachnasaigh

Roger Gilla Dubh Ó Seachnasaigh

Sir Ruadhri Gilla Dubh Ó Seachnasaigh , Chief of the Name, 1583–1650.-Biography:Ó Seachnasaigh was married to Elis Lynch at the time of his father's death, by whom he had his heir, Sir Dermot, and a daughter, Gyles...

, as he is the first mentioned living there and it is not known before his time.