What is recorded here

Cave, a natural rock tunnel beneath Blarney Castle in County Cork, was cut wider at one end in the seventeenth century and incorporated into the MacCarthy manor house. The narrow dark passage may have served as a dungeon, weapon store or private retreat. A person could crawl inside, listen to water moving through stone, and imagine the castle defending itself from within the hill.

'The ‘Dungeon’ consists of a natural cave that penetrates the northern side of the knoll on which Blarney Castle is located. The cave comprises a long, low and very narrow passage (17.5m long) that was integrated into a gun turret of the 17th century MacCarthy manor-house. The outer 3.5m length of the cave passage was artificially cut through enlarging the height and width of the passage. A drystone section of walling (3.5m long) was constructed against the artificially enlarged cave entrance.' (pers. comm. Marion Dowd 2013) Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 28 April 2014

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