CastleCounty TipperaryOPW Heritage Ireland4.6
Free entry for English Heritage members
This place is cared for by the Office of Public Works, which runs Ireland's national heritage sites as Heritage Ireland. English Heritage members are entitled to free entry to all OPW sites from the first year of membership. Show your current membership card at admissions.
More information
Standard price, the same online and at the castle; the ticket covers the castle, exhibition, audio-visual show and the free guided tour. OPW's general rule gives free admission to children under 12 (a free ticket is still needed) and to visitors with disabilities and their carers. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.
OPW's Child/Student rate; the booking site defines it as children 12 to 17 and students 18 and over with valid student ID. Children under 12 free. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.
OPW's Group/Senior rate; the booking site sells it as Senior 60+. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.
OPW's family ticket as defined on its booking site; younger children are free. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.
The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.
The nearest parking is Tipperary County Council's Castle car park on Castle Street, on the town side of the castle beside the tourist office and about 50 m from the gate. The council lists it as a pay car park on its eParking app, but publishes no tariff online, so expect to pay at the machine or by app. A farmers' market uses the car park on Saturday mornings from 9am to 1pm. The castle is in the centre of Cahir, a Heritage Town; OPW gives no bus or train directions. The Swiss Cottage, a separate OPW place, is 2 km downstream along the Coronation Walk.
Driving pin: the council's Castle car park, 51 m from OPW's pin on the castle.
Cahir Castle stands on a rocky island in the River Suir in the middle of Cahir town, one of Ireland's largest and best-preserved castles. Built in the thirteenth century, it became the stronghold of the powerful Butler family and was thought impregnable until it fell to the Earl of Essex in 1599, when heavy artillery was used against it for the first time; it was besieged twice more in the Confederate wars, and a cannonball still sits in the walls. Much of the original structure survives, from the keep and curtain walls to the courtyards, and an audio-visual show tells its story; the castle has stood in for others in Excalibur and The Tudors. Visitors can go round on their own or join a free 30-minute guided tour, and children love the dungeons, turret and hidden passages. The stairs are steep and narrow, so wear proper shoes and allow about an hour. The riverside Coronation Walk leads 2 km along the Suir to the Swiss Cottage.
OPW Heritage Ireland has not published times for this date yet.
Open all year; closed 24 to 30 December inclusive. January and February: daily 9.30am to 4.30pm, last admission 3.45pm; March to 25 May: 9.30am to 5.30pm, last admission 4.45pm; 26 May to August: 9am to 6.30pm, last admission 5.45pm; September to mid October: 9.30am to 5.30pm, last admission 4.45pm; late October to December: 9.30am to 4.30pm, last admission 3.45pm. OPW gives no date for the switch to the late-October hours; the shorter day is stored for today. Guided tours take about 30 minutes and cost no more than the all-day ticket; booking online is optional (up to 28 days ahead, at most 9 tickets) and bus groups must pre-book. Free admission for everyone on the first Wednesday of each month, first come first served.
Access is limited: steep, high steps and narrow spiral stairs, low doorways and uneven walkways, with handrails to hold, so the upper parts of the castle are not suitable for wheelchairs or anyone unsteady; contact the castle before booking if in doubt. Toilets including a wheelchair-accessible toilet, a bookshop, baby changing and an audio-visual show on site; card payments accepted; no cafe at the castle. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Photo: Cahir Castle's curtain wall, round tower and keep rising from the rock above the River Suir. Robert Linsdell, CC BY 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cahir_Castle,_Castle_St,_Cahir_(506765)_(28498329851).jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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Dog friendly
Easy 4 km linear tar-and-chip path (8 km return), greenway waymarked and shared with cyclists, from the council's Cahir Castle car park through the Inch Field and the tree-lined Coronation Walk beside the river to the Swiss Cottage after 2 km, continuing 2 km downstream; free, managed by Tipperary County Council; a fort ticket is not needed.
