What is recorded here

Ballylegan Castle belonged to the Roche family and stood eighty feet above the Funshion River before disappearing entirely from the living landscape. In 1907 two ivy-strangled corners still rose eight metres into the sky, proving the structure had not always been gone. The castle did not crumble in a single dramatic night; it leaked into the earth and memory until even its shadow vanished. What remains is a slope where a building used to be, and the river still flows beneath the absence like water beneath a forgotten bridge.

On gentle N-facing slope overlooking Funshion River c. 200m to N. No visible surface trace of castle. Photograph taken in 1907 (Grove White 1905-25, vol. 3, opp. 142) shows remains of two corners of structure standing (H c. 8m) and covered with ivy. A Roche castle (ibid.). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

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