Bunratty Castle Bunratty Castle ( ) is a large 15th century tower house in County Clare , Ireland . It is located in the centre of Bunratty village ( ) , by the N18 road between Limerick and Ennis , near Shannon Town and its airport . The castle and the adjoining folk park are run by Shannon Heritage as tourist attractions . Name . The name Bunratty , " Bun Raite " ( or possibly , " Bun na Raite " ) in Irish , means the ' bottom ' or end of the ' Ratty ' river . This river , alongside the castle , flows into the nearby Shannon estuary . History . Earlier structures . The first recorded settlement at the site may have been a Viking settlement / trading camp reported in the Annals of the Four Masters to have been destroyed by Brian Boru in 977 . According to local tradition , such a camp was located on a rise south - west of the current castle . However , since no actual remains of this settlement have yet been found , its exact location is unknown and its existence is not proven . Around 1250 , King Henry III of England granted the cantred or district of Tradraighe ( or Tradree ) to Robert De Muscegros , who in 1251 cut down around 200 trees in the King ' s wood at Cratloe . These may have been used to construct a " motte and bailey " castle , which would have been the first castle at Bunratty , but again the exact position of this is unknown . A later reference in the state papers , dating to 1253 gives de Muscegros the right to hold markets and an annual fair at Bunratty . It has thus been assumed that the site was the centre of early Norman control in south - eastern Clare . Early 19th century scholars put the structure to the north - west of the current castle . However , when a hotel was constructed there in 1959 , John Hunt excavated the area and thought the remains to be that of a gun emplacement from the Confederate Wars ( see below ) . These lands were later handed back to ( or taken back by ) King Henry III and granted to Thomas De Clare , a descendant of Strongbow in 1276 . De Clare built the first stone structure on the site ( the second castle ) . This castle was occupied from ca . 1278 to 1318 and consisted of a large single stone tower with lime white walls . It stood close to the river , on or near the site of the present Bunratty Castle . In the late 13th century , Bunrattty had about 1 , 000 inhabitants . The castle was attacked several times by the O ' Briens ( or O ' Brians ) and their allies . In 1284 , while De Clare was away in England , the site was captured and destroyed . On his return , in 1287 , De Clare had the site rebuilt and a 140 yard long fosse built around it . The castle was again attacked but it did not fall until 1318 . In that year a major battle was fought at Dysert O ' Dea as part of the Irish Bruce Wars , in which both Thomas De Clare and his son Richard were killed . Lady De Clare , on learning this , fled from Bunratty to Limerick after burning castle and town . The De Clare family never returned to the area and the remains of the castle eventually collapsed . As the stones were likely used for other local construction works , no traces remain of this second castle . In the 14th century , Limerick was an important port for the English Crown . To guard access via the Shannon estuary against attacks from the Irish , the site was once again occupied . In 1353 , Sir Thomas de Rokeby led an English army to conquer the MacNamaras and MacCarthys . A new castle ( the third ) was built at Bunratty , but once again , its exact location is unknown . Local tradition holds that it stood at the site where the Bunratty Castle Hotel was later constructed . However , the new structure was hardly finished before being captured by the Irish . Documents show that in 1355 , King Edward III of England released Thomas Fitzjohn Fitzmaurice from prison in Limerick . He had been charged with letting the castle fall into the hands of Murtough O ’ Brien whilst serving as a Governor ( Captain ) of Bunratty . Current structure . The fourth castle , the present structure , was built by the MacNamara family after around 1425 . Its builder may have been one Maccon Sioda MacNamara , chieftain of Clann Cuilein ( i . e . the MacNamaras ) . He died before the castle was completed which happened under his son Sean Finn ( died in 1467 ) . At around 1500 , Bunratty Castle came into the hands of the O ' Briens ( or O ' Brians ) , the most powerful clan in Munster and later Earls of Thomond . They expanded the site and eventually made it their chief seat , moving it there from Ennis . In 1558 , the castle — now noted as one of the principal stongholds of Thomond — was taken by Thomas Radclyffe , the Lord - Lieutenant of Ireland from Donal O ' Brien of Duagh , last King of Thomond ( died 1579 ) , and given to Donal ' s nephew , Connor O ' Brien . Donogh O ' Brien , Conor ' s son , may have been the one to move the seat of the family from Clonroad ( Ennis ) to Bunratty . He made various improvements to the castle including putting a new lead roof on it . During the Confederate Wars set off by the Irish Rebellion of 1641 , Lord Forbes , commanding forces of the English Long Parliament , was allowed by the then Lord Barnabas O ' Brien to occupy Bunratty in 1646 . Barnabas did not want to commit to either side in the struggle , playing off royalists , rebels and roundheads against each other . He left for England , where he joined King Charles . Defence of the castle , whose position allowed those holding it to blockade maritime access to Limerick ( held by the Confederates ) and the river Shannon , was in the hands of Rear - Admiral Penn , the father of William Penn , founder of Pennsylvania . After a long siege , the Confederates took the castle . Penn surrendered but was allowed to sail away to Kinsale . Barnabas O ' Brien died in 1657 , but had apparently leased out the castle to one " John Cooper " , possibly the same person married to Máire ní Mahon of Leamaneh Castle , widow of another O ' Brien , Conor ( died 1651 ) . Bunratty Castle remained property of the O ' Briens and in the 1680s the castle was still the principal seat of the Earls of Thomond . In 1712 , Henry , the 8th and last Earl of Thomond ( 1688 - 1741 ) sold Bunratty Castle and 472 acres of land to Thomas Amory for £225 and an annual rent of £120 . Amory in turn sold the castle to Thomas Studdert who moved in ca . 1720 . The Studdert family left the castle ( allowing it to fall into disrepair ) , to reside in the more comfortable and modern adjacent " Bunratty House " they had built in 1804 . The reasons for the move are bound up in family arguments over the eldest son marrying his first cousin . For some time in the mid - 19th century , the castle was used as a barracks by the Royal Irish Constabulary . In 1894 , Bunratty was once again used by the Studdert family , as the seat of Captain Richard Studdert . In the late 19th century , the roof of the Great Hall collapsed . In 1956 , the castle was purchased and restored by the 7th Viscount Gort , with assistance from the Office of Public Works . He reroofed the castle and saved it from ruin . The castle was opened to the public in 1960 , sporting furniture , tapestries and works of art dating to around 1600 . Today . Today , the castle is a major tourist attraction , along with " Bunratty Folk Park " . Both the castle and Bunratty House are open to the public . The castle is famous for its medieval banquets , offered since 1963 , at which the " Bunratty Castle Entertainers " perform today . " Bunratty Folk Park " is an open - air museum featuring around 30 buildings , including the Ardcroney Church Of Ireland church , moved here and reopened in 1998 .