The Ukrainian refugees living in an Irish castle

The families have been enjoying the freedom of playing in the castle's gardens

It's a long way from the bombed-out cities of Ukraine to the sanctuary of a 15th Century castle in County Galway.

But four Ukrainian families who have fled from various parts of the war-torn country are living in Ballindooley Castle, near Galway city centre.

They were brought there by the castle's owner - Northern Ireland man Barry Haughian.

Now, Mr Haughian and his guests have forged a bond with each other and are learning each others' languages.

Barry Haughian was moved by the plight of people fleeing from the war

Mr Haughian, who now lives in Madrid, had travelled to Poland just under two weeks ago after seeing the plight of families fleeing the conflict.

As first reported by RTÉ, the women and children were transported from the Polish-Ukrainian border to the west of Ireland, after the Armagh man put out a message on social media offering help.

He was contacted by a number of families and began to organise their route to safety in Ireland.

"To travel from Poland with an Irishman they've never met before takes some leap of faith. But it shows how desperate the people are over there and how much help they need," he told RTÉ.

Some of the children from Ukraine who are settling into life in the Galway castle

Ballindooley Castle, said to be Galway city's only inhabitable castle, was refurbished and bought by Mr Haughian in 2016.

The children who now live in the restored Norman tower house have started at local schools, the families all eat meals together and the little ones play in the garden.

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And the families and their host are picking up bits and pieces of their languages.

Maria Nazarchuk was studying financial accountancy before the war and she is now helping to translate the Russian spoken by the nine-strong group.

She said the group was now one "big family".

Mr Haughian said: "We were out in Salthill, walking along the prom on Sunday and that's when Maria said to me: 'Now I feel safe. Now, I'm relaxed. Now, this is good. All the trust is there'."

Another of the women living in the castle, Maria Kozlovska, spoke of the situation in their home country.

"Children cry, they didn't know where we can sleep, where we can [get] food. Children are very tired," she said.

The castle was built about 1480 by the DeBurgo Family but was restored from a ruin several decades ago

The castle is thought to have been built about 1480 by the DeBurgo family.

According to local papers, the first written record of ownership was to Redmond Regough Burke and it was probably used as a guest castle by the Burke family, one of the 14 ancient tribes of the city.

Locals believe it was shelled by a British gunboat during the 1916 Easter Rising to disband rebels who were said to be gathering there to march on the city.

It was restored from a ruin several decades ago, after being vacant for nearly 200 years.