Thoor Ballylee Castle (Irish Túr Bhaile Uí Laí) is a fortified, 15th-century Anglo-Norman tower house built by the septs de Burgo, or Burke, near the town of Gort in County Galway, Ireland.

[1] The stone castle was built in the 15th century and originally formed part of the huge estates of the Earls of Clanricarde, from the de Burgo or Burke family.

At the time of Griffith's Valuation (1857), Patrick Carrick was leasing a herd's house, castle and land at Ballylee, barony of Kiltartan, from William Henry Gregory.

[6] From 1921 to 1929,[7][8] Yeats and his family lived there as it was his monument and symbol: In both aspects, it satisfied his desire for a rooted place in the countryside.

Yeats and his architect, William A. Scott, restored the tower for the next two years and installed larger windows in the lower floors.

A native of Carron, County Clare, Hanley founded the society in 1961 to foster interest in the literary history of the district, especially that of Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn and Yeats.

She was responsible for the restoration of Thoor Ballylee (with the aid of Bord Fáilte and the Yeats family).

Yeats described the ground-floor chamber as "the pleasantest room I have yet seen, a great wide window opening over the river and a round arched door leading to the thatched hall".