The Shannon’s most strategic castle

Athlone Castle is located on the banks of the River Shannon at the border of Leinster and Connaught. It was originally built for the Norman King John of England in 1210 by his Irish justiciar Bishop John De Gray of Norwich. Over the next few centuries, it has protected an Anglo-Norman settlement here, a stronghold of the feuding Dillon and the O’Kelly clans, the seat of the Court of Claims, the residence of the President of Connaught, and a Jacobite stronghold in 1691 during The Great Siege of Athlone. It then became a British, then an Irish military barracks complex for the next 300 years. It is now classified as a national monument and is Athlone’s leading tourist attraction.