Ballylahan: Ancestor's Castle in County Mayo, Ireland

On the Summer Solstice of 2012... a visit to the ruins of Ballylahan Castle, near Strade in the west of Ireland. Built around 1250 A.D. by one of my family's ancestors, Jordan de Exeter (full details on Wikipedia) Once a four storey fortification towering over the meadows near the salmon-rich Moy River, today only parts of the foundation remain with most of the building stones gone for use in nearby farms and fences.