Qualla: Ballynahinch Castle https://qualla.com/ballynahinch-castle en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:12 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/8/b/ballynahinch-castle-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Ballynahinch Castle https://qualla.com/ballynahinch-castle Ballynahinch Castle: Introduction https://qualla.com/ballynahinch-castle/ Photo credit Lisa Harbin, CC BY-SA 2.0. Drive west out of Galway on the N59 and the Twelve Bens come up on the right - bare quartzite peaks, the highest of them Benbaun at 729 meters, all of them visible for an hour before you reach them. Just before Recess, the road skirts the south shore of Ballynahinch Lake. Through a gap in the ancient woodland a three-story Georgian house appears - white walls, slate roof, the lake at its feet, Benlettery at 577 meters rising directly behind. Ballynahinch Castle. Today a 48-bedroom hotel; for nearly four centuries before that, a stage where some of the strangest characters in Irish history took their turns.

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Image: Lisa Harbin | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/8/b/ballynahinch-castle-wp/gc8b-ballynahinch-castle-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Ballynahinch Castle: Grace O'Malley's In-Laws https://qualla.com/ballynahinch-castle/ Photo credit Chalky Lives, CC BY-SA 2.0. The first fortification on this lakeshore was a small castle built around 1546 by Dónal Ó Flaithbheartaigh - Donal O'Flaherty - one of several he raised across Connemara. Donal married Grace O'Malley (Gráinne Ní Mháille), the seaborne queen of the Mayo coast, which united the O'F...

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Image: Chalky Lives | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/8/b/ballynahinch-castle-wp/gc8b-ballynahinch-castle-grace-omalleys-in-laws.mp3 0:06 2 full Ballynahinch Castle: Humanity Dick https://qualla.com/ballynahinch-castle/ Photo credit Lisa Harbin, CC BY-SA 2.0. The most famous Martin to live here was Richard Martin, born in 1754, who served as Member of Parliament for County Galway. He was a duelist of some reputation in his youth, fought several encounters over points of honor, and was credited with at least one death by sword. Then so...

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Image: Lisa Harbin | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/8/b/ballynahinch-castle-wp/gc8b-ballynahinch-castle-humanity-dick.mp3 0:06 3 full Ballynahinch Castle: The Cricketing Maharajah https://qualla.com/ballynahinch-castle/ Photo credit Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0. In 1924 a buyer arrived who nobody expected. Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji - Ranji to the cricket world - was the Maharaja Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, ruler of an Indian princely state of about 400,000 people. He was also one of the greatest batsmen in cricket history, having playe...

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Image: Andreas F. Borchert | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/8/b/ballynahinch-castle-wp/gc8b-ballynahinch-castle-the-cricketing-maharajah.mp3 0:06 4 full Ballynahinch Castle: What the Hotel Inherits https://qualla.com/ballynahinch-castle/ Photo credit marneejill from Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0. Since 2014 the estate has been owned by Denis O'Brien and his wife Catherine, who refurbished the building and run it as a 48-bedroom hotel on 450 acres. The salmon fishery that drew Ranji is still here. The ancient woodland still surrounds the house. Benlettery still rises behin...

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Image: marneejill from Canada | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/8/b/ballynahinch-castle-wp/gc8b-ballynahinch-castle-what-the-hotel-inherits.mp3 0:06 5 full