Conna () is a village in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is situated on the

River Bride The River Bride () is a river in counties Cork and Waterford in Ireland. It is a tributary of the Munster Blackwater. Rising in the Nagle Mountains, it flows eastward, passing through the towns of Rathcormac, Castlelyons, Conna and Tallow, b ...

, near the town of

Fermoy Fermoy () is a town on the River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,500 people. It is located in the barony of Condons and Clangibbon, and is in the Dái ...

, on the R628 regional road. The village contains several pubs, a shop, a post office, a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church (built ) and a nearby

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

chapel. The village is dominated by

Conna Castle Conna Castle ('' Irish'': Caisleán Chonaithe) is a 16th century tower house located near Conna in County Cork, Ireland. History 16th century Conna Castle is situated in County Cork on the River Bride, a tributary of the River Blackwater, ...

, a five-story

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

situated on a limestone outcrop near the river.

History

Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of

ringfort Ringforts, ring forts or ring fortresses are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Bronze Age up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wales ...

standing stone A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright rock (geology), stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. T ...

and

fulacht fiadh A burnt mound is an archaeological feature consisting of a mound of shattered stones and charcoal, normally with an adjacent hearth and trough. The trough could be rock-cut, wood-lined or clay-lined to ensure it was watertight. Radiocarbon d ...

sites in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

s of Conna, Clashaganniv, Curraheen and Kilclare. During the mid-16th century, the Fitzgeralds, Earls of Desmond, built

on a high limestone rock overlooking the River Bride. The castle and its estate was seized by the English and passed into the hands of

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...

, the English settler. The rightful heir to the castle, James FitzThomas (the Sugán Earl) staged an unsuccessful attempt to capture the castle. The castle then went through a series of different owners before ending up in the hands of the

Earl of Cork Earl of Cork is a title in the Peerage of Ireland, held in conjunction with the Earldom of Orrery since 1753. It was created in 1620 for Richard Boyle, 1st Baron Boyle. He had already been created Lord Boyle, Baron of Youghal, in the County ...

. It is believed that

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

passed by the castle and fired cannons at it before moving on. In 1653, the castle suffered a fire in which three of the steward's daughters were killed. The castle continued to move from owner to owner until Hilary L'Estrange purchased the castle in 1851. He passed it on to his son, Rev A. G. K. L'Estrange, on whose death in 1915, the castle was willed into the care of the state.

Notable people

* Liam Kearney (b.1983), professional footballer and coach *

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

(1925–2022), actor and producer, moved to the area with her husband Peter Shaw and lived in a 19th century farmhouse named Knockmourne Glebe. *

Bartholomew MacCarthy Bartholomew MacCarthy (12 December 1843, in Conna, Ballynoe, County Cork – 6 March 1904, in Inniscarra, Co. Cork) was a scholar and chronologist who wrote extensively on Early Irish literature. He was educated at Mount Melleray Abbey, Seminary, ...

(1843–1904), Irish historian

References

{{reflist Towns and villages in County Cork

History

Notable people

See also

References