Ardfinnan Castle

Ardfinnan Castle, is a castle built in 1185 with its sister Lismore Castle, by the river crossing at Ardfinnan (Ard Fhíonáin in Irish) in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is situated on the River Suir, four miles south of Cahir and seven miles west of Clonmel. One of the earliest Norman castles in Ireland, Ardfinnan and Lismore represent the oldest castles built by the Norman Crown in Ireland. The castle and grounds are a private residence and not open for public viewing. The Anglo-Norman castle is positioned on a large rocky incline above a ford in the river, looking out over the Suir valley with the Knockmealdown Mountains to the south, and the Galtee Mountains to the northwest. The castle is a parallelogram in shape with a fortified entrance gateway, keep and circular 13th century preceptory at its eastern corners, while to the west are ruins of two towers and a great hall. The full extent of its structure is hidden by the trees of the Castle Wood. The castle is bound at the riverbank, bridge and road by its old watermill.