What is recorded here

Aghadown Castle belonged to the O'Driscoll lineage, yet the main structure has vanished entirely. Only a battered tower remains beside the ghost location, its north face damaged and stripped of context. The castle itself has surrendered to time, leaving behind a lonely marker where a powerful family once held the western coast.

The tower (CO141-052001-) which is shown immediately to W of castle on OS 6-inch map (1842) survives, but no visible remains of castle; base of N face of tower is battered. O'Murchadha (1985, 178) mentions Aghadown as an O'Driscoll castle, of which little is known. 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

Aghadown Castle was likely built by the O'Donovan family, a prominent Gaelic-Irish clan in west Cork, during the late medieval period. It is remembered as a strategic stronghold in the region and as part of the historical landscape associated with the Desmond Rebellions of the 16th century.

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