In the mid 1860s, the third Earl of Limerick, William Pery decided to rectify the issue of how much land he owned in Ireland. His family had owned thousands of acres in Limerick and Cork. Despite occupying an 18th Century house in Limerick City, he and his foremen decided to create a new rural residence coincided with Lord Limericks friendship with Godwin, both men held the titles of President and Vice-President of the Architectural Society in Limerick.
Built as a keep in a Gothic Revival style, the building is archaeologically convincing both in its design and its display of distinctively Irish Gothic features, such as the round tower and stepped battlements. Godwin studied and measured several Irish Gothic castles before producing his plans for Dromore. He also designed much of the interior including the wall paintings, fireplaces, ceiling decoration, sculpture, tiles, stained and painted glass, brass work and ironwork, as well as furniture, to whom the commission for furniture went to William Watts of Grafton Street. Henry Stacey Marks commenced the wall paintings, however, work was abandoned due to severe damp. To combat this Godwin designed a brick lining with a cavity of about two inches from the stonework, in addition the internal walls and vaults, with the exception of the main entrance vault, were also of brick.
An article on Dromore Castle written by Marian Locke and published in the Winter 2011 issue of the Old Limerick Journal states that Godwin thoroughly explored his prospective client’s estates in search of a site without finding anywhere he deemed suitable before coming across a small shooting lodge owned by the Earl on a piece of land of some forty acres overlooking Dromore Lake. This the architect decided was the perfect spot, ‘a dream-like situation on the edge of a wood…overlooking the water, which would reflect the castle one hundred feet below.’ As indeed it still does, Lord Limerick buying up a further 200 acres, seventy of which were covered by aforementioned water.
So the rocky outcrop on which Dromore stands, and the views offered from this position, made certain other decisions inevitable, not least that the greater part of the accommodation would face north, hardly the best way to ensure the building’s interior would retain heat, or receive much sunlight.
Interestingly the building itself closed prior to World War 1, for safety reasons ofcourse
Most recently the castle was chosen as the setting for the 1988 film "High Spirits" directed by Neil Jordan and starring Liam Neeson and Peter O Toole.