Castle (in Ruins)

Tower house and mural tower in ringfort (CO149-030---) c. 0.5km inland on N side of Roaringwater Bay. Rectangular (int. 7.15m E-W; int. 4.55m N-S) 4-storey tower house on NW line of bank of ringfort. Pointed vault over second floor. Ground- and first-floor door opes near W end of S wall, one above the other. Straight mural stairs rise from E ingoing of first-floor door to SE corner of third floor. Mural garderobe chamber in N wall at first-floor level; garderobe chute exit at base of E wall. Window opes poorly preserved: single round-headed lights at ground-floor level but otherwise appear to be square-headed. Third-floor window embrasures have stone seats; spiral stairs in SE corner give access to roof level. Numerous putlog holes on all external elevations. Base batter removed. Mural tower on line of bank to S. Rectangular 3-storey tower (int. 2.8m E-W; int. 1.32m N-S); clad in ivy. Pointed wicker-centred vault over second floor. Blocked opes in N and S walls at first-floor level. Splayed window opes at second-floor level obscured by growth. Spiral stairs above second-floor level in SW corner give access to roof level. O Mahony castle known as 'Whites castle' (O Laoghaire 1981, 20-1) 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 as a 4-storey tower house within a pre-existing ringfort, likely by a local Gaelic family in the late medieval period (c. 15th–16th century). It is important as an example of the adaptation of ancient sites for defensive and domestic use during Ireland's turbulent medieval era.