What is recorded here

Foildarrig is a castle lost to time, hidden beneath the living rock of Castletownbere harbour. Dhermod McCarthy built it, but the sea took back the stone and erased the walls. What remains is memory, pressure, and the shape of forgetting.

On rocky outcrop near shoreline of Castletownbere harbour. Shown on O.S.1st ed. map as Castle. Lewis (1837, Vol 2, 48) mentions "In Castletown are some ruins of Castle Dhermod, built by Dhermod McCarthy". No visible surface trace. 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

Built by Dhermod McCarthy, Castle Dhermod at Foildarrig dates to the early modern period and is remembered as a historical ruin noted in 19th-century sources, reflecting the presence of the McCarthy dynasty in the region.

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