Annaghdown

Annaghdown stands on the eastern shore of Lough Corrib, north of Galway, where a monastic settlement and later a bishop's seat grew beside the water. Churches, an abbey and a castle testify to its religious importance. The last bishop of Annaghdown was appointed in 1421 and may have built the castle overlooking the lake. By 1574 the castle was in the hands of Nicholas Lynch, one of the merchant family associated with Galway, while the older ecclesiastical buildings remained a reminder of the settlement's longer history.