What is recorded here

Del Cora defies easy belief because a mound, a castle and a buried chamber may all occupy the same place at once. Smith saw a sepulchral mount, Healy found a castle, O'Kelly described a chamber, and modern owners decorated the result. That is not confusion; it is a layer cake. The spiral path, low wall and planted top belong to one age. The chamber and mound belong to another. The castle may rise above them still in name and memory. To judge Del Cora, stop wanting one answer. A place can be a burial, a fortress and a garden at the same time. The difficulty is not in the facts. It is in the human desire to make mystery small.

Mound (max. diam. c. 21.6m; H c. 6m) in garden in Ballynacorra House, overlooking Ballynacorra river. Low wall surrounds base; anti-clockwise spiral path to flat top; sides and top planted with trees. According to O'Kelly (1945, 19) these 'are modern "decorations" added by one of the former owners of Ballynacorra House' (CO076-043---). Smith (1750, 147) refers to it as 'high sepulchral mount'. The mound could be the remains of a motte refered to in 12th century as the castle of Del Cora (see Healy 1988, 115-6). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). 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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