Castle hotel
Castlemartyr
Castlemartyr Resort
A 5-star resort centred on a 17th-century manor house standing beside the ruins of a genuine 800-year-old medieval castle on the same 220-acre grounds.
Worth the detour
Notable castles to visit
15thc.
Notable castle
Blarney Castle
Built in 1446 by the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty on the site of an earlier c.1210 stone fortress, Blarney is one of Ireland's most visited medieval keeps.
13thc.
Notable castle
Castlemartyr Castle
Seat of the FitzGeralds of Imokilly from the late 12th century until their lands were confiscated after the 1583 Desmond Rebellion, the roughly rectangular castle features a five-storey square keep and later 17th-century chimney ranges added under Sir Walter Raleigh and Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork.
15thc.
Notable castle
Dunboy Castle
Built by the O'Sullivan Beare clan to command Berehaven harbour and control sea fisheries, Dunboy was the site of a brutal two-week siege in 1602 by English forces under Sir George Carew during the Nine Years' War, after which the 58 surviving defenders were executed.
16thc.
Notable castle
Barryscourt Castle
Seat of the powerful Barry family from the 12th century, the castle was deliberately damaged by its own occupants in 1581 to prevent English capture during the Desmond Rebellions, then repaired with new bawn defences.
1582
Notable castle
Blackrock Castle
Originally built to repel pirates and protect shipping approaching Cork Harbour, the castle was rebuilt in its current castellated form in 1829 after a fire.
17thc.
Notable castle
Charles Fort
Designed by William Robinson during the reign of Charles II, Charles Fort is one of the finest surviving examples of a 17th-century star fort in Europe, with five bastions guarding Kinsale Harbour.
1500
Notable castle
Desmond Castle (Kinsale)
Built as Kinsale's customs house around 1500 by Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond, the castle later became a naval prison known as the 'French Prison' for the French and Spanish captives held there, 54 of whom died in an 1747 fire.
17thc.
Notable castle
Kanturk Castle
Built around 1601 for MacDonogh MacCarthy, Lord of Duhallow, as a show of Gaelic wealth and power, the castle was left unfinished after English Privy Council intervention in 1618 — neighbouring settlers feared its scale and defensibility.