Located in the middle of the Lough Key Lake, McDermott’s Castle is one of the oldest national monuments of Ireland. The castle’s history goes so far back that it even gave the island its name which is Castle Island.

Although it seems like a small piece of land in the middle of nowhere, McDermott’s Castle was a place of constant conflicts, battles, invasions, destruction, and tragedy. In the late 12th century, a bolt of lightning and ensuing fire nearly destroyed the castle. In the following centuries, many tribes, Celtic and others, tried to take the castle from the McDermotts.

McDermott’s Castle was also home to a love tragedy. According to the story, the daughter of the chief falls in love with a peasant boy. Although they love each other very much, the chief does not approve of the relationship and forbids her daughter from seeing him.
However, the young couple continues to meet secretly. The boy swims every night to the island but one day he drowns and dies. The death of her lover upsets the girl so much that she dies from grief as well. In order to honor their forbidden love, the chief buries them together under the same tree on the island.

Additionally, some Gaelic artifacts, silver materials, and collections of animal remains were found on the site as well. Today, the castle is still abandoned but it has an owner. Although it was put on sale for 80,000 pounds, it did not happen, and the castle stayed with the fun...