Walls of Athlone Castle to be painted blue during revamp

A key detail has emerged about the ongoing upgrade works on Athlone Castle, with the walls of the historic structure set to be painted blue all over in a bid to make it more eye-catching to tourists.

A local source said the idea of painting the entire external walls of the castle had been under consideration for some time as it was hoped this would "jazz up" the appearance of the town's most well-known building.

Several colours are understood to have been under consideration, and for a time pink was the front-runner as it was felt this could be the most Instagram-worthy option for tourist snaps.

However, blue ultimately won out. "On sunny days we think there will be a real synergy between the bright blue walls of the castle, the colour of the River Shannon below it, and the colour of the sky above it," a local decision-maker explained to the Westmeath Independent.

"We want the blue colouring of the castle walls to stand out visually from a good distance away when people are coming into the town."

Blue was also seen as a favourable colour for the castle walls because it leaves open the possibility of overlaying the paint with some black stripes in order to replicate the traditional Athlone Town FC colours at a future date.

The scale of the project means this will be one of the most significant painting jobs ever undertaken in Athlone, with up to a dozen painters, heavy-duty paint brushes, and thousands of gallons of paint likely to be required.

Athlone Castle's visitor centre has been closed to the public since last October for redevelopment works.

The decision to paint the walls of the castle blue was officially announced this morning (Wednesday) and a year from today, April 1, 2027, is the date by which all of the painting is due to be completed.