Castle under siege

I HAVE visited Ireland every year since 2000 and have always gone to Carrigaphooca Castle, near Macroom, on my way to the Beara peninsula.

In a sense, it is a pilgrimage to my ancestral roots. My father was forced to emigrate from Castletownbere in 1939.

On his way to visit his aunt in Macroom, one of his last stops was at the castle. He has only returned once to the home country in all these years and is now too old to do so again.