Coole Castle
Sir John MaCoghlan built Coole Castle on the banks of the Brosna in 1575. It was the last of the MacCoghlan castles to be built. He erected it as a present to his second wife Sabina O’ Dallachain. Formerly there was a mural slab in the castle with a Latin inscription translating as
“This tower was built by the energy of Sir John MacCoghlan, K.T. chief of this Sept at the proper cost of Sabina O’ Dallachain on the condition that she should have it for her lifetime and afterwards each of her sons according to their seniority”.
The whereabouts of the mural is unknown at present. In his will in 1590 Sir John left Coole Castle to his wife Sabina O’ Dallachain. Over the fireplace, in its original location, in the topmost room of the castle is a plaque written in Middle Irish which reads: “SEAGHA (n) MAC (c) OCHL (ain) DO TINDSCAIN O SEO SUAS 1575” (“Sean Mac Cochlan began (this building) from this (date) 1575”)

Clononey Castle
Clononey Castle, lying two and a half miles west of Cloghan, is a modernised (and now ruined) 16th century tower house built on a great rock. The building of this castle was probably started in 1509. It was meant to belong to the Heir Apparent, Finin MacCoghlan, who lost his territory for “going into rebellion”.
In 1612/13 Matthew De Renzi, a German merchant, acquired 100 acres in the Clononey area including Clononey Castle. A tomb slab near the castle marked the burial place of Elizabeth and Mary Boleyn, cousins of the ill-fated Anne Boleyn who was married to Henry V111. The remains of a bawn surround this four-storey tower-house with angular flankers; both tower and bawn were modified and restored in the 19th century.
A short time ago it was sold to a German for a reported £100,000 and is now on the market once more.