Donough O’Brien, son of Brian Boru, held a fortress on this site in 1014, the same year his father died winning the Battle of Clontarf against Viking forces. The O’Brien clan, direct descendants of Ireland’s last High King, ruled from Dromoland for the next 900 years, surviving the family’s forced surrender to Henry VIII in 1543 by converting to Protestantism and accepting the title Baron of Inchiquin in exchange for keeping their land.
Maire Rua, known in local legend as a ruthless widow who dispatched a string of husbands, married a Cromwellian officer in the 1650s specifically to preserve the estate for her son by an earlier marriage. The current Gothic Revival castle dates to 1835, built by architects James and George Richard Pain. During Ireland’s War of Independence, the IRA’s Dublin leadership marked Dromoland for demolition, but the local Clare brigade intervened on the family’s behalf. The O’Briens sold the estate in 1962.