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County Galway · Connacht · Ard Raithin

About Ardrahan

Ardrahan is a village in County Galway, 21 km south-east of Galway city, with 540 people at the 2011 census. The high ringfort, with a Fitzgerald castle and the stump of a round tower in the churchyard wall, Edward Martyn's Tulira up the road, and eleven county hurling titles since 1894.

Population
540 (2011 census)
Where
21 km from Galway, 171 km from Dublin
Position
53.1568° N, 8.8060° W, 29 m above sea level
In Irish
Ard Raithin
On the model
324 buildings, 0 streets, 116 places in 27 kinds
Read more
Ardrahan on Wikipedia
The 3D model of Ardrahan with every named place pinned
Tarpey's Ardrahan Inn, Market Place, Ardrahan, Co. Galway
Tarpey's Ardrahan Inn, Market Place, Ardrahan, Co. Galway
P L Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The centre of the village of Ardrahan, Co. Galway
The centre of the village of Ardrahan, Co. Galway
P L Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Castles of Connacht: Castle Taylor, Galway (1)
Castles of Connacht: Castle Taylor, Galway (1)
Mike Searle, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Drumharsna Castle
Drumharsna Castle
Joe Silke, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A short history

  1. Before 1236
    The round tower. The remains of a round tower in the churchyard wall suggest a monastery stood here before any castle.
  2. 1236
    Fitzgerald's castle. Richard de Burgo conquered Galway and granted the land to Maurice Fitzgerald, who built the castle whose ruins still stand.
  3. 1869 to 1983
    The railway. The station opened on 15 September 1869, lost its passengers on 5 April 1976 and closed for good on 11 June 1983; a new station has opened with the first phase of the Western Rail Corridor between Ennis and Athenry.
  4. 1894
    First county title. Ardrahan won its first Galway senior hurling championship, and has won eleven in eighteen finals, second only to Castlegar's seventeen.
  5. 2006 and 2019
    The camogie girls. The under-14s won the Féile final in both years and went to Cork for Galway; in 2006 they reached the All-Ireland semi-final.
  6. 2015
    Tulira sold. Long owned by the county council, Edward Martyn's castle was bought by CarTrawler's Niall Turley for 5.8 million euro.

The full history, 6 moments in order

What to see

  1. Tulira Castle2.7 km

    The house of the playwright and independence activist Edward Martyn, 2.7 km out.

  2. Ardrahan castle and round tower

    Fitzgerald's ruin of 1236 and the tower stump in the churchyard wall.

  3. Labane church

    The parish church with windows by Alfred E.

  4. Ardrahan Grassland

    The special area of conservation west of the village.

  5. Thoor Ballylee6.3 km

    Yeats's tower, 6 km south.

  6. Coole Park7.4 km

    Lady Gregory's demesne, 7.4 km away.

All the things to see and do

Questions people ask

Where is Ardrahan?
In County Galway, in the province of Connacht, in the west of Ireland: 21 km south-east of Galway city and 171 km west of Dublin, on the R458; the Western Rail Corridor station.
What is the population of Ardrahan?
540 people at the 2011 census.
What is there in Ardrahan?
On the map, 116 named places in 27 kinds: 3 places to eat and drink, 3 shops, 5 schools, churches and public buildings, and 99 things to see within 12 km.
What is Ardrahan known for?
Hurling, Tulira Castle, the Fitzgerald castle and round tower, the Labane windows, and its reopened railway station.

Getting around

Ardrahan sits on the R458; the Western Rail Corridor station. 4 bus stops and 0 car parks are on the map.

History, sights and civic facts summarise Wikipedia, "Ardrahan" (CC BY-SA 4.0, read 2026-09-19). Population is the CSO census as listed there. Distances and everything on the model are OpenStreetMap.