Mallow Castle is a National Monument situated off the N72 on Bridewell Lane, Mallow, County Cork, Ireland.

Description
The 33-acre (13 ha) site is composed gardens and parkland on which three buildings sit:[2] the remains of a 16th-century fortified house, a 19th-century mansion to the north, and the ruins of a 13th-century castle to the east. The fortified house is a long rectangular three-storey building, with two polygonal towers on the north-west and south-west corners. It is early Jacobean in style, featuring high gables, stepped battlements, and mullioned windows.[2] The wings of the house project from the centre of the south and north walls, with the entrance in the north wing. The design of the house was to provide a field of fire around it entirely.[3]

The 19th-century baronial mansion has parts which date to the 1690s and is situated near the older ruined Mallow Castle. As a refurbished building it features 8 reception rooms, which include a music room, a billiard room and a library, as well as 12 bedrooms.[2]

History
The fortified house dates from the 16th century and is believed to have been built by Sir Thomas Norreys before his death 1599. Following his death, his niece Elizabeth and her husband Sir John Jephson inherited the house, with their family remaining in Mallow for almost 400 years. It was placed under siege by Richard Butler, Lord Mountgarret, in 1642 during the Irish Confederate Wars and did not fall. It was captured in 1645 by James Tuchet, Lord Castlehaven. The house was badly damaged by fire during the Williamite War and subsequently abandoned by the Jephsons.[3] The Jephsons built the new mansion house on the site of the older castle's stable block.[2]

Current use
The fortified house was made a National Monument in 1928. Commander Maurice Jephson sold the mansion to the McGinn family of Washington, D.C., in 1984.[2] The castle and the grounds have been in the possession of Cork County Council since 2011.

Mallow Castle

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Blackwater Castle (Castle Widenham) is a privately owned estate located in the village of Castletownroche between the towns of Mallow and Fermoy in North Cork, Ireland, and since 2005 is available to rent as a private hire venue for castle weddings and private parties along with castle rentals for vacations. The castle comprises one of the oldest occupied castles in Ireland as parts of the residential section date back to the early 15th century [1] while the castle structure itself dates back to the 12th century. A round tower on the eastern end of the Castle dating from the late 12th century is still standing although no longer accessible. The castle was constructed on the ancient fortress of Dun Cruadha, an inland promontory fort dating back to the late Bronze Age/early Iron Age, while the site itself was first occupied back in the Mesolithic age (circa 9,000 years ago) as evidenced by the flint scatter found at Kilcummer[2] and the caves on the south bank of the River Awbeg making this site one of the earliest known settlements in Ireland.

The Cambro-Norman grandsons of Maurice FitzGerald, Alexander and Raymond FitzHugh, established their fortress on the site of Dun Cruadha in the late 12th century following the Anglo/Cambro - Norman Invasion of Ireland and when Alexander's daughter Synolda married David de la Roche the area subsequently to be known as the Barony of Fermoy became Roche Country. The castle remained in the hands of the Roche family until 1666 when it passed to Colonel John Widenham.[3] Roche Castle then became known as Castle Widenham and stayed within the Widenham family line until the 1960s. A number of different owners followed during which period the castle was substantially renovated and rebranded as Blackwater Valley Castle until it passed into the hands of the Nordstrom Family Trust in 1991.[4] The Trust works at preserving the unique heritage on site by making the castle self-sufficient and the castle, now known as Blackwater Castle, is a thriving centre of hospitality with regular castle weddings, private events, and family gatherings. The courtyard of the castle is also home to an adventure centre, Blackwater Outdoor Activities.

In circumstances where the castle was held by the politically powerful and influential Roches for a period of almost 500 years and subsequently by the wealthy (but politically insignificant) Widenhams for a further 300 years much of the heritage[5] on site remains intact making this a heritage site of international significance. As elements from most eras of Irish History can be reflected in the castle's history it is a popular destination for history and heritage tours[6] as it contains evidence of Mesolithic occupation, late Bronze Age/early Iron Age settlement (inland promontory fort) with evidence of ring barrows and ring forts in the immediate area, a St. Patrick's Holy Well, a Sheela na Gig, Medieval defence walls, a 12th-century tower, a 13th-century watch tower and sentry walk, a 15th-century Norman Keep, the Medieval manuscript The Book of Fermoy (now housed in the Royal Irish Academy[7]), a 17th/18th century courtyard with out-buildings along with a fortified mansion/country house of the post Cromwellian period (subsequently modified and extended).

Blackwater Castle

Kanturk (Irish: Ceann Toirc, meaning ""Boar's Head"" - also the town's emblem) is a town in the north west of County Cork, Ireland. Kanturk is situated at the confluence of the rivers Allow and Dallow (also Dalua), streaming further on as tributaries into the Blackwater. It is about 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Cork, Blarney and Limerick, and lies just north off the main N72 road, 15 km (9 miles) from Mallow and about 40 km (25 miles) from Killarney.

It is a small market town, which after many years with a static population has commenced to grow again.[when?] Apart from its creamery which produced casein from milk, a raw material for early plastics, its former knitwear facility now produces concrete flooring products. The town's schools include Coláiste Treasa and Scoil Mhuire.


History
A historic site close to the town is Kanturk Castle, known locally as the Old Court,[1] a fortified house built in 1601 for MacDonagh McCarthy as a defence against English settlers.[2] It was a limestone rubble Tudor mansion four storeys high, 28 metres in length and 11 metres wide, with four towers of five storeys high and a height of 29 metres. According to legend, the castle was never completed as word of its construction reached the Privy Council in England. They ordered MacDonagh to stop building works, as they feared it would be used as a base to attack English settlers. Macdonogh was allegedly so furious at this news that he smashed all the blue ceramic tiles for the roof and threw them into a nearby stream. The stream then became known as the Bluepool Stream because of the reflection of the tiles in the water. Due to its architectural and historic importance, it is owned by An Taisce (National Trust for Ireland), and is a designated National Monument.

Heritage tourists from the McAuliffe, O'Keeffe, O'Callaghan, Hartnett, Fitzpatrick, Sullivan, Walsh, O'Riordan, and McCarthy families visit Kanturk to investigate familial roots in the area.[citation needed] As families moved during wars and the plantations, some O'Neills, O'Donnells, and other families date their roots in Kanturk from the time of the Siege of Kinsale.[citation needed]

Amenities
The Kanturk Library[3] in the Main Street offers lending facilities, including books on tape, newspapers, and general reference books. Internet access is available and the library also organises cultural events.

Kanturk Town Park is a short distance from the town shopping centre, crossing the Kanturk Bridge and left into the O'Brien Street, then entering the park at the Unity Stone monument. The park has oak, beech, chesnut and ash trees, a children's playground, some cultural exhibits, and a walkway by the banks of the Dalua.

Sport
Kanturk GAA club has a hurling team and a football team, both men's and women's from underage to Intermediate level. The local pitch is located in Kilroe, just outside the town. Kanturk RFC is a rugby union club which is also located just outside the town, at Knocknacolan. Founded in 1927, the club play in the All-Ireland League. An eighteen-hole golf course is located on the Mill Road, where milling used to take place. A soccer pitch and facilities accommodates 6 teams from under 11s up to Junior level. Kanturk also has a cycling club with its own outdoor 250m velodrome, one of only two in the Republic of Ireland.

Kanturk has a trout fishing club which maintains the rivers that flow through the town. The Dalua from Newmarket flows into the Allow (Freemount River) in the centre of the town. A further 2 km (1 mile) south of the town the river Brogeen flows into the Allow. The Allow joins the River Blackwater; known for its salmon fishing, a further 3 km (2 mi) downstream at Leaders Bridge on the N72 Mallow to Killarney road. In recent years[when?] the club installed a salmon pass in Kanturk Park and repaired the damage done in previous decades aimed at flood prevention.[citation needed] The club is frequently represented on the international stage, with Kanturk Trout Anglers Association entering senior, ladies and juvenile members on the 2007 TAFI (Trout Anglers Federation of Ireland) world championship teams.[citation needed]

Transport
Rail: Kanturk is served by the nearby Banteer railway station, which is 6 km (4 mi) from Kanturk. The town's one-time railway station opened on 1 April 1889, closed for passenger traffic on 27 January 1947 and finally closed altogether on 4 February 1963.[4]
Bus: Kanturk is served weekdays by four buses a day from Cork to Mallow, one of which continues to Cork. On Saturdays, there is a single bus service to Cork via Mallow. Kanturk is unserved by bus on Sundays.
Air: Kanturk is 51 km (32 mi) from Kerry Airport. A wider range of air services is available from Cork Airport, which is 61 km (38 mi) away.
[show]Historical population
Kerry Airport is accessed by rail from Banteer railway station. Cork Airport is accessed by taking the bus to Cork or the train from Banteer to Cork and switching to the city bus service at either Parnell Place Bus Station or Kent Station respectively. Otherwise both airports may be accessed by private car.

Kanturk

Blarney Castle (Irish: Caisleán na Blarnan) is a medieval stronghold in Blarney, near Cork, Ireland, and the River Martin. Though earlier fortifications were built on the same spot, the current keep was built by the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty, a cadet branch of the Kings of Desmond, and dates from 1446.[4] The Blarney Stone is among the machicolations of the castle.

Blarney House

The castle originally dates from before 1200, when a timber house was believed to have been built on the site, although no evidence remains of this. Around 1210 this was replaced by a stone fortification.[4] It was destroyed in 1446, but subsequently rebuilt by Cormac Laidir MacCarthy, Lord of Muscry,[5][6] who also built castles at Kilcrea and Carrignamuck.[7]

The castle was besieged during the Irish Confederate Wars and was seized in 1646 by Parliamentarian forces under Lord Broghill. However, after the Restoration the castle was restored to Donough MacCarty, who was made 1st Earl of Clancarty.[8]

During the Williamite War in Ireland in the 1690s, the then 4th Earl of Clancarty (also named Donough MacCarty) was captured and his lands (including Blarney Castle) were confiscated by the Williamites.

The castle was sold and changed hands a number of times — Sir Richard Pyne, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, owned it briefly — before being purchased in the early 1700s by Sir James St John Jefferyes, then governor of Cork City.[2][9]

Members of the Jefferyes family would later build a mansion near the keep. This house was destroyed by fire, and in 1874 a replacement baronial mansion, known as Blarney House, was built overlooking the nearby lake.[10]


Kissing the Blarney Stone
In the mid 19th century the Jefferyes and Colthurst families were joined by marriage, and the Colthurst family still occupy the demesne.[2] In May 2008, the present estate owner, Sir Charles St John Colthurst, Baronet, succeeded in a court action to eject a man who had lived on his land for 44 years. The man's great-grandfather had been the first to occupy the estate cottage.[11]

Tourism[edit]
The castle is now a partial ruin with some accessible rooms and battlements. At the top of the castle lies the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. Tourists visiting Blarney Castle may hang upside-down over a sheer drop to kiss the stone, which is said to give the gift of eloquence. There are many versions of the origin of the stone, including a claim that it was the Lia Fáil — a numinous stone upon which Irish kings were crowned.

Surrounding the castle are extensive gardens. There are paths touring the grounds with signs pointing out the various attractions such as several natural rock formations with fanciful names such as Druid's Circle, Witch's Cave and the Wishing Steps. The grounds include a poison garden with a number of poisonous plants, including wolfsbane, mandrake, ricin and opium, as well as cannabis. Blarney House, also open to the public and within the estate grounds, is a Scottish baronial-style mansion that was built in 1874.

Ardamullivan Castle

Blarney Castle (Irish: Caisleán na Blarnan) is a medieval stronghold in Blarney, near Cork, Ireland, and the River Martin. Though earlier fortifications were built on the same spot, the current keep was built by the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty, a cadet branch of the Kings of Desmond, and dates from 1446.[4] The Blarney Stone is among the machicolations of the castle.


History
The castle originally dates from before 1200, when a timber house was believed to have been built on the site, although no evidence remains of this. Around 1210 this was replaced by a stone fortification.[4] It was destroyed in 1446, but subsequently rebuilt by Cormac Laidir MacCarthy, Lord of Muscry,[5][6] who also built castles at Kilcrea and Carrignamuck.[7]

The castle was besieged during the Irish Confederate Wars and was seized in 1646 by Parliamentarian forces under Lord Broghill. However, after the Restoration the castle was restored to Donough MacCarty, who was made 1st Earl of Clancarty.[8]

During the Williamite War in Ireland in the 1690s, the then 4th Earl of Clancarty (also named Donough MacCarty) was captured and his lands (including Blarney Castle) were confiscated by the Williamites.

The castle was sold and changed hands a number of times — Sir Richard Pyne, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, owned it briefly — before being purchased in the early 1700s by Sir James St John Jefferyes, then governor of Cork City.[2][9]

Members of the Jefferyes family would later build a mansion near the keep. This house was destroyed by fire, and in 1874 a replacement baronial mansion, known as Blarney House, was built overlooking the nearby lake.[10]


In the mid 19th century the Jefferyes and Colthurst families were joined by marriage, and the Colthurst family still occupy the demesne.[2] In May 2008, the present estate owner, Sir Charles St John Colthurst, Baronet, succeeded in a court action to eject a man who had lived on his land for 44 years. The man's great-grandfather had been the first to occupy the estate cottage.[11]

Tourism
The castle is now a partial ruin with some accessible rooms and battlements. At the top of the castle lies the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. Tourists visiting Blarney Castle may hang upside-down over a sheer drop to kiss the stone, which is said to give the gift of eloquence. There are many versions of the origin of the stone, including a claim that it was the Lia Fáil — a numinous stone upon which Irish kings were crowned.

Surrounding the castle are extensive gardens. There are paths touring the grounds with signs pointing out the various attractions such as several natural rock formations with fanciful names such as Druid's Circle, Witch's Cave and the Wishing Steps. The grounds include a poison garden with a number of poisonous plants, including wolfsbane, mandrake, ricin and opium, as well as cannabis. Blarney House, also open to the public and within the estate grounds, is a Scottish baronial-style mansion that was built in 1874.

Blarney Castle

Castle Oliver (also Clonodfoy) is a Victorian mock castle in the south part of County Limerick, Ireland. Built for entertaining rather than for defense, it has a ballroom, drawing room, library, morning room, dining room and hall which feature hand-painted ceilings, decorated ornamental corbels, superbly executed stained glass windows and stencil work. The castle stands on massive terraces and has a commanding view over much of its former 20,000-acre (81 km2) estate. The castle has Ireland's largest wine cellar, said to hold approximately 55,000 bottles. From May to September 2014, Castle Oliver was opened to the public in conjunction with ""Limerick City of Culture"" for house tours.

History
The lands where the castle stands were settled in about 1658 by Capt. Robert Oliver, one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers. The present castle replaced the former Castle Oliver, which stood a thousand yards to the south-west and was the birthplace of Eliza Oliver, mother of the notorious Lola Montez, who became the lover and favourite of King Ludwig I of Bavaria.


The castle was for many years known as Clonodfoy, a contraction of an earlier Irish place name: Cloch an Otbhaidhigh, meaning 'the stone structure of Otway', Otway being an Anglo-Norman family name.

Capt. Robert Oliver's descendant Richard Oliver married a Yorkshire heiress through whom he inherited substantial wealth and property in West Yorkshire and moved away to live in Parlington Hall near Wetherby, leaving Castle Oliver to deteriorate in the hands of a bailiff. Their daughters, Mary Isabella and Elizabeth Oliver Gascoigne, both married members of the Trench family of Woodlawn, Galway. The younger sister, Elizabeth, married Frederic Mason Trench, 2nd Baron Ashtown in 1852. The sisters were highly accomplished artisans, designing and executing both the stained glass work and verre eglomise (back-painted glass panels) which ornamented the ballroom fireplace. Much of their work has survived. The elder sister, Mary Isabella, was a highly skilled wood-turner who published (under a male pseudonym) an authoritative book on the subject, ""The Art of Wood-Turning"", still a respected source of information on the subject.

The sisters commissioned the present castle in 1845. It was designed by the York architect George Fowler Jones in the Scottish Baronial style and built in a local pink sandstone, quarried on the estate. Fowler Jones had designed several substantial commissions for the sisters in the north of England, including almshouses and churches. Whilst Mary Isabella and her husband made their home in the Yorkshire seat of the Gascoignes (Parlington Hall), Elizabeth and her husband occupied Castle Oliver. The house was later inherited by Elizabeth's step-grandson, the Honourable William Cosby Trench.

The last member of the Trench family to live at Castle Oliver, Mrs Lynn Trench, sold the property to the racing driver Billy Coleman in 1978. After that the castle changed hands several times, eventually becoming the property of a local bank, who broke up the remaining land, farm and lodges into separate lots. The castle itself failed to find a buyer and languished into decay, falling prey to vandals and thieves. It appeared in the book ""Vanishing Houses of Ireland"", published by the Irish Georgian Society.

In 1988 it was purchased by the late Damian Haughton, who according to the subsequent owner, put a halt to most of the worst leaks in the roof. In 1998 it was purchased by Nicholas Browne, who continued the restoration work and transformed it back into a habitable residence. In 2006 it passed to Declan and Emma Cormack, who completed high-grade restoration work and made the castle their home. In 2015 the Cormacks sold it to an unnamed family from Melbourne, Australia to use as a home for ""several months of the year"".