Ballynacarriga Castle

On rocky eminence with good view in all directions, overlooking Ballynacarriga Lough to the SW. This four storey tower house (14.6m E-W; 11.8m N-S) is entered through a rebuilt ground-floor door in the E wall; there is a portcullis slot over the door. A vaulted lobby gives access to a guardroom to the S; the main chamber is to the W; a short flight of steps to the N leads to spiral stair in the NE corner which rises the full height of the tower. The area over the lobby is occupied by six chambers, one above the other; the 1st and 2nd floor are entered from the main chambers; otherwise they are entered from the spiral stairs. Windows have square-set embrasures covered by segmental vaults with ogee-headed lights. The main 2nd floor chamber is covered by a pointed, wicker-centred vault (axis E-W). There are fireplaces in the S wall of the main 1st- and 3rd-floor chambers. There are bartizans at 2nd-floor level, in the NW and SE corners; there are corbels for narrow machicolation atop the E wall over the door. A long mural passage in the N wall at 2nd-floor level gives access to a garderobe; the exit chute is on the N face at 1st-floor level. There is a Sheela-na-gig (CO108-051005-) on the outer E face at 1st-floor level. There is a notable series of carvings on the soffit stones of the window embrasures on the S wall at 1st- and 3rd-floor levels, and on the N wall at 3rd-floor level. The first-floor carvings include a figure and five rosettes said to represent Catherine O Cullane and her children (Hurley 1906, 77). The third-floor carvings include the inscription "1585 R.M. C.C." (Randal Muirhily (Hurley) and his wife Catherine O Cullane). Also depicted are the Crucifixion, the Instruments of the Passion, and figures which may represent St John, the Blessed Virgin and St Paul, as well as decorative panels (Hurley 1906, 77). The tower may be a century older than 1585 when the upper storeys were probably modified. The surviving features of a bawn enclosure (CO108-0510034) include the remains of a circular tower (CO108-051002-), just to the E of the castle and a short section of wall running N from the E end of the N wall. The remains of a two-storey mill on the stream to the W are said to have been built with stones from the castle. (Heritage Castles, 99-101) See Heritage Castles of County Cork (Heritage Unit of Cork County Council, 2017): https://www.corkcoco.ie/sites/default/files/2022-10/heritage_castles_of_county_cork_2017.pdf This is a National Monument in State Care (no. 425). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 1: West Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1992). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. See attached photographs: CO108-051003-_01: Exterior from SW CO108-051003-_02: Exterior from N CO108-051003-_03: Exterior from NW Date of last revision: 26 April 2023

Ballynacarriga Castle was built by the Fitzgeralds, Lords of Carbery, in the 15th or 16th century. It is important as a well-preserved example of a tower house in West Cork and reflects the regional power and defensive architecture of the Gaelic aristocracy.