Carrigaphooca Castle
Carrigaphooca Castle (Irish: Caisleán Carraig a' Phúca), meaning Castle on the Rock of the Fairy; the word Púca translates as kind of ghost or fairy) is a ruined five storey rectangular tower house, situated on a steep-sided rock, located 6 km west of Macroom, County Cork, Ireland. Although named as a castle, the Carrigaphooca was built as a defensive tower in 1436, probably by Donal McCarthy of Drishane.[1] In 1602, the castle was attacked and taken by Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare.[2]
During the 1970s, the Office of Public Works undertook restoration of the site, and added a flight of steps leading over the rock base, joining with the main entrance.[3] The ground floor chamber is lit by small off-center windows, and is flanked by a straight mural stairs which rises as a spiral to the 4th floor level.
In an area rich with neolithic monuments, a stone circle lies two fields to the east of the tower.
See also
Notes
Bibliography
- Power, Denis (1997), Archaeological inventory of County Cork, Volume 3: Mid Cork, 9467, ColorBooks, ISBN 0-7076-4933-1