Kinvara returns to Dunguaire Castle's chained gates three years after closure

The people of Kinvara, Co. Galway, will walk together to the chained gates of Dunguaire Castle on Wednesday, September 30, marking three years to the day since one of Ireland's most photographed landmarks closed to the public. Local residents, students, and visitors passing through the village are all invited to what organizers are calling the Dunguaire Gathering.

The event opens at 11.45am, with Eugene Lambe, one of Ireland's best-known uilleann pipers, playing for people as they arrive at the castle. Eamonn Coy of Kinvara Community Council will speak about where matters currently stand, and Fran O'Reilly of Kinvara Heritage Group will also attend.

The morning will close with Maeve Cairney, who sang at the Dunguaire medieval banquets every night from 2007 until the day the doors were locked. Her song each evening was "Sally Gardens," and on Wednesday she will sing it once more, this time standing at the gates rather than inside them.

Organizers say the closure has now lasted long enough that an entire cohort of local children has no memory of ever going in.

"For three years, children in Kinvara have grown up with Dunguaire on their doorstep and no way in," the statement said. The Transition Year students taking part on Wednesday were in first year when the gates closed, and according to the organizers, "they are the people who should one day look after this place."

Dunguaire Castle, County Galway.

The castle sits at the edge of Kinvara Bay and has long been central to both the village's identity and its tourism trade. Its closure, the organizers said, "is felt by the community and by visitors from Ireland and around the world."

Kinvara Heritage Group and Kinvara Community Council launched their campaign in June 2026 in response to the continued shutdown. Since then, the campaign's QR code has been scanned more than 8,000 times, drawing engagement from 443 cities across 55 countries, along with local, national, and international press attention.

Three years on, the community says the basic questions are still unanswered. They want to know when the castle will reopen, what is happening with the proposed purchase of the land opposite the site, and which government department intends to acquire it. The group is seeking a clear timetable and a firm commitment to reopen Dunguaire, along with a guarantee that the land across from the castle will be secured for the village's future.

Dunguaire Castle, County Galway.

The 16th-century tower house has been closed since 2023, when a planned transfer of the property failed to be completed. The Shannon Airport Group owns the castle, but in 2021, as its heritage division stepped back from tourism, the group moved to transfer several castles to local authorities, and the handover to Galway County Council did not go through.

The council has said it will take on the castle, but only with a commitment of funding from central government. More recently, the Office of Public Works confirmed that any acquisition of Dunguaire is ultimately a decision for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and that the OPW would take responsibility for conservation and management if that decision were made.

Media, including TV crews, photographers, radio journalists, and reporters, have been invited to join the gathering from 11.45am.

"On Wednesday, we are going back to the gates," the organizers said. "Not to mark three years of silence, but to show that Kinvara has not forgotten."