Shanbally Castle was located near Clogheen, County Tipperary and built for Cornelius O'Callaghan, the first Viscount Lismore, in around 1810.

The protests against the demolition of Shanbally Castle came from some local sources, An Taisce, a few academics such as Professor Gwynn and some political voices such as Senator Sean Moylan, the Minister for Agriculture until his death in November 1957, and TD from Mitchelstown, John W Moher.

Politically, the Fianna Fáil Government had no love for houses of the ascendancy and local TD Michael Davern was in favour of its demolition.

[citation needed] In March 1960, The Nationalist reported the final end of a building which was once the pride of the neighbourhood.

[citation needed] "A big bang yesterday ended Shanbally Castle, where large quantities of gelignite and cortex shattered the building," it said.