What is recorded here

Modern farm buildings now cover the castle site in Dromdowney Lower, but a 1905 photograph still showed masonry stumps poking through the soil. Smith wrote in 1750 that Drumdowne held a ruined castle belonging to the Barrys, while later tradition claims Sir Philip Perceval destroyed it in the mid-17th century to keep it from falling to an enemy. The earthwork may have been a deliberate erasure, turning a dangerous home into nothing but a memory buried beneath fields.

These earthworks are referred to in the 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork - vol. 4 North Cork' (2000, 512) under the entry (no. 14307) for a castle (CO024-151002-). The following information was already included in the summary field of the database record: Nothing survives of castle. Modern farm buildings constructed on site. Rectangular enclosure/structure (c. 20m x c. 10m) indicated by broken line on 1842 OS 6-inch map; hachured arc SW->NW shown outside 'Castle (site of)' on 1905 OS 6-inch map; wide fosse depicted SW->NW on 1937 map. Photograph taken 1905 (Grove White 1905-25, vol. 77) shows stumps of masonry surviving at that time. Smith (1750, 319) refers to 'Drumdowne, a ruined castle of the Barrys'. Castle passed to Sir Philip Perceval who destroyed it in mid-17th century to prevent it falling to enemy (Grove White 1905-25, vol. 77). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). 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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