Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

Near the mouth of an isolated mountain valley, on rock outcrop on the E bank of the Ilen river. This rectangular, four storey tower house with attic (14.2m E-W; 8.2m N-S) was the castle of the O'Donovan family, said to have been built about 1560 by Daniel O'Donovan (Coleman 1922, 63-6). It stands to full height except for the SW corner, which had fallen, though significant consolidation and conservation works were undertaken by the Office of Public Works in recent years (Heritage Castles of County Cork 2017, 107).

There is a central ground-floor door in the W wall which had a pointed arch, rebated on the outside (see photo in Nyhan 1930, 101); prior to conservation work the lower jamb stone on the N side remains, but it was rebuilt. The lobby behind was entirely ruined prior to conservation. At the NW corner spiral stone stairs rise to the full height of the tower giving access to each floor; steps are broken from the 2nd floor upwards; the top is well covered by a series of overlapping lintels. The former presence of a series small rooms in the SW corner is evidenced by doorways accessed from the spiral stairs. The ground floor is covered by a pointed wicker-centered vault (axis E-W). Window embrasures are covered by segmental vaults with gun loops set low to either side of the light. There are fireplaces in the W wall at 1st and 2nd floor levels, and in the E wall at 3rd floor level. There are square-headed lights with mullion and transom divisions at 3rd floor level. There are bartizans atop the NE and SE corners. An old photograph shows machicolations over the doorway atop the W wall and SW corner bartizan, as well as battlements atop the S wall (Nyhan 1931, 30).

This is a National Monument in State Care (no. 656).

See Heritage Castles of County Cork (Heritage Unit of Cork County Council 2017): https://www.corkcoco.ie/sites/default/files/2022-10/heritage_castles_of_county_cork_2017.pdf

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 1: West Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1992). Four seasons of excavations were undertaken here between 2002 and 2008 (Licence number 02E1569) and the results have been published: (Bolger and Hegarty 2012).

See attached photographs:
CO119-017002-_01: Exterior from W
CO119-017002-_02: Exterior from E
CO119-017002-_03: Exterior from SE
CO119-017002-_04: Interior of 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors from W

Revised by: Paul Walsh and Anne-Julie Lafaye

Date of upload: 11 September 2012

Date of last revision: 26 April 2023

References

Bolger, T. and Hegarty, L. 2012 Archaeological excavations at Castle Donovan, County Cork. Journal of the Cork Archaeological and Historical Society 117, 61-90.

Nyhan, D. 1931 Historic Drimoleague. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 36, 36-41.

Nyhan, D. 1930b Historic Drimoleague. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 35, 99-102.

Coleman, J. 1922 The old castles of South-West Cork. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 28, 62-71.