Islands of Ireland: Crumbling castle on the island with no name

Dún an Óir tower house on Cork's Oileán Chléire is unlikely to survive longterm — but would have once been a commanding sight to approaching ships

Islands of Ireland: Oileán Ó Drisceoil, Oileán Chléire, Cork

Of all our spectacularly sited castles or tower houses (Carrigadrohid on the River Lee, the Rock of Cashel in Co Tipperary) Dún an Óir is possibly the cream of the crop. It was built in the mid-16th century on a small promontory but the intervening centuries have seen it cut off from the island of Oileán Chléire.

It is an island with no name but an island it is nonetheless. And while there are many unnamed islands and islets scattered around the country, this one has a significant historical charge in that the ruins of the castle are perched on top — alas crumbling into the sea with each storm that tears through.