Doonagore Castle is a round 16th-century tower house with a small walled enclosure located about 1 km above the coastal village of Doolin. Its name may be derived from Dún na Gabhair, meaning "the fort of the rounded hills" or the "fort of the goats". Doonagore Castle is at present a private holiday home, inaccessible to the public. A castle was built on (or near) the site of an even earlier ringfort by Tadgh (Teigue) MacTurlough MacCon O'Connor some time during the 14th century. The current structure likely dates from the mid-16th century. Unlike most tower houses in the region, this was built not from limestone but from sandstone. In September 1588, a ship of the Spanish Armada was wrecked below the castle. One-hundred and seventy survivors were caught by the High Sheriff of Clare, Boetius Clancy and hanged at Doonagore Castle. In the late 17th or early 18th century, the castle came into the possession of the Gore family, resulting in the false etymology of "Gore's Castle". They repaired the castle in the early 19th century, but by 1837 it had once again fallen into a state of disrepair. It was restored in the 1970’s by architect Percy Leclerc for a private purchaser, an Irish-American named John C. Gorman whose family still owns it.