Lynch’s Castle is situated between Shop Street and Abbeygate Street and nowadays houses the AIB bank, could easily go unnoticed. Yet it is a striking example of a medieval fortified house. The castle is four storeys high with embellished carved windows, gargoyles and ornamental mouldings and cornices. Built by the powerful Lynch family as a protection from raids, parts of the limestone building may date back to the 14th century but the bulk of it was built in the 16th century. The Lynches had had Anglo-Norman descent and they were one of the powerful 14 tribes who ruled Galway.