Denise Hall: Castle still plays an active role in local life
This 16th century tower house near the village of Kealkil is still an imposing five story structure.
If stones could talk Caislean Carraig an Easa — the castle on the rock of the waterfall — would have many stories to tell, but few could be as extraordinary or uplifting as its modern day restoration and incarnation as a community owned heritage project.
It’s not difficult to imagine that its builder, Donal O’Sullivan, who became known as “Donal the Powder” after blowing himself up while experimenting with a relatively new invention, gunpowder, may look down in bemused pleasure at his once-ruined fortress which now hosts tourists, live theatre and stunning walks beside the Ouvane River.
As a result of the Anglo-Norman conquest of North Munster and the occupation of all their lands, the O’Sullivans, like many other clans, were forced to move from their hereditary lands in County Limerick and ended up in West Cork and South Kerry.
When Donal blew himself up, his son Donal should have succeeded him as head of the O’Sullivan Beara clan. But young Donal was deemed to be underage and the chieftainship passed to his uncle Owen.
He decided to submit to the crown and became Sir Owen O’Sullivan, Lord of Beara.
This entitled him to hand down his title and property to his firstborn son, which meant that Donal would be disinherited, in contradiction to the old Brehon laws. Sir Owen was now the dominant power in the region and a period of fierce inter-tribal feuding began.
In 1587,this conflict regarding the chieftainship of the O’Sullivan Beara clan was eventually placed before the English Commissioners and after six long years, they decided that Donal would receive the lands west of Adrigole and Sir Owen the lands around Bantry.
By this division, the O’Sullivan Beare lost a large proportion of their lands to English settlers.
Sir Owen of Carriganass fought with the English at Kinsale and took their side in the conflict with Donal Cam, aiding them in the destruction of Dunboy Castle, the hereditary seat of the O’Sullivan Beara.
After Donal Cam’s epic march to Leitrim, he fled to Spain with the greatly reduced remainder of his followers. Following his departure, Sir Owen became Lord of all the O’Sullivan property.
Sir William Perry was granted much of the abandoned O’Sullivan property and Sir Owen received even an acre of of the O’Sullivan lands previously under the ownership of his cousin, Donal Cam.
Sir Owen lost what little he possessed following the Irish Uprising of 1641, thus bringing to an end the reign of the O’Sullivan Bere.
Following the English victory at Kinsale, Sir George Carew pursued the O’Sullivan forces back to their Beara base and began a vicious campaign to wipe them and theirs from the face of the earth.
Donal Cam’s nephew, Philip O’Sullivan wrote that during the destruction of Dunboy Castle, women, children and the elderly had taken refuge only to be massacred by Carew’s forces.
He reported that they tied them back-to-back and threw them from the cliffs then shot at them with muskets. Not surprisingly, this terrible event became known as the Dursey Massacre.
Only a small garrison was left to defend Carriganass Castle and Carew soon captured it before laying siege to Dunboy.
The castle eventually passed into the ownership of the Barrett family until the 1930’s. It was generously donated to the community by then owners Anne and Joe O’Sullivan making it one of the very few castles in Ireland to be a community owned and managed historical site.
Today’s Carriganass Castle stands in brooding isolation on its rocky outcrop above the Ouvane River. But in sharp contrast to its turbulent past, it offers a restored castle, a small shop during the summer months and an ever-expanding series of walks.
Mick Cremin is one of the hard-working group of locals who have spent the last 17 years labouring to bring this project to fruition. Mick told me about the process.
It’s been quite a journey. I’ve only been involved for the last four years and I soon realised that it’s an incredible group of volunteers who have made this happen.
The castle was becoming increasingly derelict and when Anne and Joe donated it to the community, a group was formed to realise the project. Tara O’Neill and John Collins are just two of this driving force. The group had some help from Heritage and West Cork Partnership and the work on the castle began.
In recent years we’ve acquired 17½ acres from the council, where we’ve created a series of walks in harmony with the environment. Future plans involve a wildflower meadow, an exercise area and more tree planting.
Yes. It’s a great location for it. Last year, we had A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Chapterhouse Theatre Group. This year, they’re performing The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes and Jungle Book We’ve held a wedding party here too and a popular Midsummer’s Festival.
And we have visitors from all over the world who love to explore the castle. There’s an audio visual display and plenty of other information available. Rural communities have to pull together to make things happen these days.
It’s an on-going process as now, it’s a question of maintenance. And there’s always more to do. Our tree planting project let’s people support our project and commemorate a special event by planting a commemorative tree for a €50 donation.
Carriganass Castle is an important part of our heritage and we want to see it preserved.
n Info: 086 338 7277
