What is recorded here

Carriganass Castle is a ruined tower house beside the Owvane river in County Cork, built around 1540 for Dermot O'Sullivan and surrendered after Dunboy fell in 1602. Its four-storey walls still rise inside a rectangular bawn, with gun loops piercing the west face and angled corner towers leaning outward like stubborn teeth. The east half has become disused farm buildings, but the old vault ghosts remain visible on the inner wall, suggesting rooms where people once lived, watched the river and waited for danger.

On N bank of Owvane river commanding view in all directions; overlooked from N. Remains of tower-house stand in SW quadrant of rectangular bawn. W wall of tower (Wth 10.3m), most of N wall (L 12m) and short return of S wall (L 2m) stand to four storey. 'Ghost' of segmental vaults over 1st and 3rd floors visible on inside of W face (axis E-W). Central window opes in W wall at all levels; first floor embrasure has mural passage on either side; single ogee-headed light at 3rd floor. Small mural chamber in N wall at 1st floor level; mural passage visible in broken face of S wall at 3rd floor level. Similar bartizans atop NW and SW corners: supported by a corbel on each wall with a straight face set across corner. Bawn roughly rectangular in plan (26m N-S; 48m E-W) projecting towers at each corner; S face overlooks rock-cut gorge. Appears late in date, probably 17th century. Eastern half altered to accommodate modern farm buildings (now disused). W wall and original W end of N wall pierced by many gun loops. Outward facing corners NE and SE corner towers acutely angled, similar to bastions on star-shaped forts; NW tower more bluntly pointed; SW tower roughly rectangular. SW tower has 4 tiers of nesting boxes on each face at 1st floor level. Castle of the O'Sullivan clan reputedly built by Dermot O'Sullivan about 1540 (Healy 1988, 170); surrendered after the fall of Dunboy in 1602 (Ó Murchadha 1985, 308). See Excavations 2002, 63, nos. 247-249 and Excavations 2004, 46-7, no. 212. 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. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

Carriganass Castle was built by the McCarthy family, Lords of Bantry, in the late 15th or early 16th century. It is remembered as a significant stronghold of the McCarthy dynasty and for its strategic location overlooking the Owvane River.

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