BARRYSCOURT CASTLE
The fine ruins of this fortress are situated about half a mile south of Carrigtohill, in the County Cork.
It consists of a rectangular structure about 70 feet in height, flanked by three towers, which open into the main building at each storey.
A small oblong shaft in the south-east angle of the keep runs from the upper to the lower rooms. A passage in the main north wall is now filled up.
The arches are of good workmanship and well preserved. In some of the smaller apartments the marks of the wattle frames used in the building are still easily traced on the ceilings, which show an early date of construction.
In the chamber above the chapel appears the date 1588, as well as an inscription stating the castle was erected by “D.B.” and “E.R.,” which initials stand for David Barry and his wife, Eliza Roche. In another room the date 1596 is inscribed.
The lands of the Barrys in Cork were confirmed to Philip Barry by King John in 1206, and he later became possessed of Barry’s Court. The present castle is, however, supposed to have been built during the fourteenth century.
Tradition states it was erected upon the site of an older fortress belonging to the Lyons or Lehanes of Castle Lyons, and that during the excavations for the present foundations an inscribed stone was found stating that “O’Lehan hoc fecit MCIII.,” but O’Donovan does not think the story probable.
Geraldus Cambrensis is credited with having written part of his history of the conquest in the earlier castle.