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St Ruadhán mac Fergusa Birn (died 584) founded a monastery here. A church was built over the site c 1000 AD, and what is now a Church of Ireland was built next to it in modern times. There are two broken 8th-century High Crosses in the graveyard. Adjacent are the scrappy remains of an Augustinian priory, founded in the 12th century, with the ruins dating to 15th century.
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An early example of a bling castle, built 1610-17 to show off wealth and with little defensive purpose, in an era when others still preferred to huddle within stern bastions. The owner was Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricade, and it was a family home to 1826. It was abandoned after a fire and became a sorry roofless shell, but in 1968 the Office of Public Works re-roofed it and began other restoration, which continues. You can visit the ground floor and extensive formal gardens.
By 1800, poverty relief by church and voluntary effort was swamped by the rise in destitute people. Workhouses for the able-bodied poor were set up across the British Isles, with some 130 in Ireland. Portumna was one of the additional 33 established in 1850 after the Great Famine. It was built for 600 inmates; its records have been lost but the 1901 Census recorded 118 residents, falling to 68 in 1911. This and other workhouses closed in 1922 when the new Irish government established County Hospitals for the sick and Homes for the aged.