The O'Flahertys had been temporarily expelled from their ancestral lands west of Lough Corrib in Connemara by the Norman family of De Burgos in 1256 and the original castle at Aughnanure may have been built by Walter de Burgo, first Earl of Ulster. However the expulsion of the O'Flahertys was only temporary and before the close of the 13th century and for the next three centuries, they were master of the entire territory of Iar-Connacht (West Connacht) extending from the west of bank of Lough Corrib to the sea. Aughnanure became their strongest bastion against their neighbours to the south and east, particularly the citizens of Galway who controlled access from the ocean to Lough Corrib.
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