What is recorded here

Bishop Bennett may have built the tower for tea and conversation rather than star-gazing, giving the strange crenellated ruins a warmer heart. Bishop Brinkley and the observatory idea belong to later memory, while the WC 1807 plaque and square two-storey chamber anchor it in human making. The tower is no longer complete, but its purpose is easier to imagine when it was a place for company instead of a monument to a bishop.

Marked on 1842 OS 6-inch map as 'Bishop's Tower (in ruins)'. Square, two-storey structure (4.6m N-S; 4.6m E-W) with crenellated parapet. Door in W elevation surmounted by niche for plaque; windows in both floors; fireplace in SE corner of ground floor. Building popularly ascribed to Bishop Brinkley (1826-1835) and thought to have been used as an observatory. Fleming (1896, 128) thinks it was built by Bishop Bennett as a 'tea tower' for social gathering. Stone plaque inscribed 'WC 1807' in farmyard of Cloyne house (CO088-01910-) said to come from tower. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). 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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