What is recorded here

Castle Garr guarded the Fota ford near what is now Slatty bridge, probably on the ground later taken by Tullagreine House. The Newton family lived there as retainers of the Barrymores, watching water, traffic and local authority until the castle vanished from the mid-seventeenth-century survey. It may have been levelled, abandoned or simply stopped mattering to the people drawing maps.

The exact location of Castle Garr is not known though it stood 'near what is now Slatty bridge … intended to guard the ford to Fota Island … on or near the site of the present Tullagreine House' (Healy 1988, 116). No castle is shown here on the Down Survey (1655-6) barony map so it may have been levelled by the mid-17th century. It was 'occupied by the Newton family who were tenants, or retainers, of the Barrymores' (ibid.). The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009

Built to guard the ford to Fota Island, Castle Garr was likely held by local Gaelic lords in the medieval period. It is remembered for its strategic position near Slatty Bridge and its probable role in controlling access to Fota Island.

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