Islands of Ireland: Cork's Illaunseer hides a gruesome tale of Donegall Castle stonemasons

The master castle builders worked on a castle for a clan that first came to England with William the Conqueror and then to Ireland under Strongbow

Fri, 29 Apr, 2022 - 06:00

Dan MacCarthy

Not many of our islands are presumed to be the burial place for revered craftsmen. Illaunseer near Baltimore in West Cork is one such place where the stonemasons and other craftsmen who constructed Donegall Castle on Ringarogy island are thought to be buried.

The island nestles in the western extremity of the River Ilen Estuary and is not just pretty much inaccessible to fishing traffic, there is not even a nearby road that approaches it affording a view of it.

The island was also linked to the early medieval architect and builder the Goban Saor who is in fact interred at Derrynaflan Island in County Tipperary near the site of the church which he built. A simple confusion with the word ‘saor or ‘seer’ is likely to have been the source of confusion here. The Irish translation is ‘Oileán na Saor’ which has been rendered as ‘Island of the Carpenters’ as well as ‘Field of the Flagstone’.

Illaunseer is a minute island, barely two acres in size, lying just off the northeast tip of the vastly bigger Ringarogy. There is some grazing available on it which is accessed at low tide to Ringarogy.

Otherwise, the island is nondescript. Without an excavation, it can’t be ascertained if, in fact, the island does hold the graves of the Donegall Castle stonemasons.

The word ‘Donegall’ comes from Dún na nGall, or fort of the foreigner, and there are two townlands on Ringarogy with the name: Donegall East and West. The first castle on the site was built there in the 12th century by the Norman settlers, the Barretts. That clan first came to England with William the Conqueror and then to Ireland under Strongbow.

It is thought that it is from this era that the unfortunate masons met their end. The powerful clan established several other fortifications in mid and north Cork.

Donegall Castle was occupied in the 15th century by the O’Driscolls who had many castles in the area including at Baltimore, Cape Clear, Sherkin and Heir Island. Their castle controlled all navigation on the river.

As the castle was under construction, the stonemasons would have lived on-site until its completion which would have taken several years. On their demise, it is believed they were interred on Illaunseer, whether in one go or as they passed on, we do not know. Probably in one go, and probably gruesomely, as related by a story on the folklore collection Dúchas.

Fearing that the masons would construct a castle of similar design, the owners put them to the sword, the story goes. The reason for their execution may have been related to the knowledge the masons had of concealed areas where treasures could be hidden. The fortunes of the castle were destined to failure, it seemed, and later it was destroyed.

Islands of Ireland: Beeve’s Rock linked to 'wicked witch' who 'haunted the rocks'

“The English tried hard to capture the castle and the guns used during the fighting were buried in the mud and were never found. Some cannonballs were found and are still to be seen. About 16 years ago a big round stone with a man’s head on it was got in the ruins,” a testimony on Dúchas says.

Sadly, it can not be said of the work of these craftsmen that their monument has stood the test of time. The ruined castle was pulled down in 1826 and the significant quantity of cut stone was used in the construction of the pro-cathedral in Skibbereen. According to the archaeological record, all that remains of the site is a “raised platform with low grass-covered undulations indicating area of site”.

Illaunseer has a number of adjacent islands to it including Illaunglass, Inishbeg Island (not the large one and childhood home to former US president Dwight D Eisenhower’s lover, Kay Summersby), Illaundarrig and Illaunacullin. The mini Inishbeg is a curiosity and is a rare example of a place having the same name as an adjacent place.

Illaunseer is the easternmost extremity of the electoral division of Cape Clear which also curiously, includes Sherkin Island.