Ross Castle is a late fifteenth-century tower house in Killarney National Park, County Kerry. It was built for the O'Donoghue family. Ownership later passed to the MacCarthy Mór, who leased it to Sir Valentine Browne. A square bawn with round corner towers originally enclosed it.
The defenses include square bartizans on diagonally opposite corners, two machicolations and a front anteroom with an iron grill and a murder-hole. The door is two layers of Irish oak. The five floors run from storage up through quarters for guards and the chieftain's family to a stone-floored great room.
It was among the last castles to surrender to Cromwell's forces, and only after artillery came by boat via the River Laune. It later served as a military barracks. The Office of Public Works now runs it with seasonal guided tours.
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