Bunratty Castle
| Bunratty Castle | |
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| Native name Caisleán Bhun Raithe | |
Bunratty Castle
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| Location | Bunratty village, County Clare, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 52°41′48″N 8°48′42″W / 52.69667°N 8.81167°WCoordinates: 52°41′48″N 8°48′42″W / 52.69667°N 8.81167°W |
| Built | c. 1425 |
| Restored | 1956 |
| Restored by | 7th Viscount Gort |
| Governing body | Shannon Heritage |
| Reference no. | 478 |
 Location of Bunratty Castle in Ireland
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Bunratty Castle (Irish: Caisleán Bhun Raithe, meaning "Castle at the Mouth of the Ratty") is a large 15th-century tower house in County Clare, Ireland. It is located in the centre of Bunratty village (Irish: Bun Ráite), 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.
The name Bunratty, Bun Raite (or possibly, Bun na Raite) in Irish, means "river basin" of the 'Ratty' river. This river, alongside the castle, flows into the nearby Shannon estuary.
The first recorded settlement at the site may have been a Norsemen 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).
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