Documenting our Heritage

Lough Cutra Castle,

Co. Galway

Page 4

I ask Edward if there’s any ghosts around Lough Cutra Castle ?

It turns out there’s quite a few! He starts to tell me about the infamous Cheeky Murray. Murray was a man servant who worked in the Castle. One day during the depths of winter he was crossing the ice on the lough and fell into the freezing water. He was trapped under the ice for some time but was eventually rescued and brought back into the castle. Murray died of pneumonia some time later. He used to haunt just the room where he died and consequently this room was locked up and unused. Many years later, after restoration works, his room was reopened and became a modern bathroom. After this Murray began to roam the entire castle, his ghost has seen on numerous occasions by many people. Murray gained the nick name ‘Cheeky Murray’ when a lady visitor had her bum pinched!

As a quirky feature and to make use of some lost space, the top of this spiral staircase has been turned into a toilet! There’s a fine view out the window!

We head up onto the roof to survey the demesne.

You can see right down the lough, that’s Apple Island in the distance.

Next we head down under the castle to take a peek at the cellars.