The ancestral home of the O’Brien’s

Dromoland is the ancestral home of the O’Briens who are the direct descendants of Brian Boru and are one of the few Royal Gaelic families. The earliest castle here was a fortified tower house built in c.15th. It later became the residence of Murrough O’Brien who was granted the title ‘First Earl of Thomond’ by Henry VIII in 1543. In the early 1700s, a Queen Anne-style manor house was built here before it was transformed in 1835 into the Gothic-Revival-style castle you see today. The O’Briens held the title Baron’s of Inchiquin and the castle was one of the few big houses to escape destruction during the Irish civil war due their deep Irish connection. Dromoland was eventually sold in 1962 and was later developed as a luxury resort. Famous guests have included George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Juan Carlos I of Spain, Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Richard Branson, Jack Nicholson, Johnny Cash, Michael Flatley, John Travolta, and of course our own Bono.