Liscarroll () is a village in
County Cork, Ireland
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 ...
The village is located on the
R522 regional road near
Mallow and
Buttevant
Buttevant ( or ''Ecclesia Tumulorum'' in the Latin) is a medieval market town, incorporated by charter of Edward III, situated in North County Cork, Ireland.
While there may be reason to suggest that the town may occupy the site of an earlie ...
about two miles south of
River Awbeg
Awbeg River is a river in the southern part of Ireland. It is a tributary of the Blackwater River and flows into that larger river at a point in County Cork. Its name comes from the Irish ''Abha Bheag'' ("small river", a slightly older form th ...
. Liscarroll is within the
Cork North-West (Dáil constituency)
Cork North-West is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 3 deputies ( Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs) on the system of proportional repr ...
. Liscarroll is approximately 51km to
Cork City
Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city's ...
and 53km to
Limerick City
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
, Liscarroll was once considered to be the cross roads of
Munster. According to the
2016 census of Ireland
''Census 2016'' in the Republic of Ireland was held on Sunday, 24 April 2016, to administer a national census. It was organised by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and reported a total population of 4,761,865, or a 3.8% increase since the prio ...
there are 883 individuals living in and around Liscarroll, the population had increased by 52 individuals (6.25%) since the
2011 census of Ireland.
Liscarroll Castle
The remains of
Liscarroll Castle, a large 13th-century
Hiberno-Norman fortress, that still towers over the village of Liscarroll and the
surrounding countryside.
It is the third largest castle in Ireland.
The construction date of Liscarroll castle is not recorded, but a late thirteenth-century date is most likely for this type of castle. It may well have been built by David
de Barry
The de Barry family is a noble family of Cambro-Norman origins which held extensive land holdings in Wales and Ireland. The founder of the family was a Norman Knight, Odo, who assisted in the Norman Conquest of England during the 11th century. ...
who died in the late 1270s and who had served as
justiciar (the king’s chief representative in Ireland) in the 1260s. Liscarroll was held by the Barrys down to the early seventeenth century, when it was acquired by an English settler, Percival.
In 1649 it was captured by Cromwellian forces under Sir
Hardress Waller
Sir Hardress Waller (1666), was an English Protestant who settled in Ireland and fought for Parliament in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A leading member of the radical element within the New Model Army, he signed the death warrant for the Ex ...
. A sustained artillery bombardment during this battle caused considerable damage to the walls, making it indefensible, a fate suffered by many castles when cannon came into common usage. Percivals regained possession of the castle after this and their descendants held it down to the twentieth century.
The castle is the subject of an 1854 poem by Callaghan Hartstonge Gayner which concludes:
Beneath its folds assemble now, and fight with might and main,
That grand old fight to make our land " A nation once again",
And falter not till alien rule in dark oblivion falls,
We’ll stand as freemen yet, beneath those old Liscarroll walls.
In 1920 during the
Irish War of Independence the castle was temporarily occupied by the
British military.
The Castle is under the guardianship of the
Office of Public Works
The Office of Public Works (OPW) ( ga, Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí) (legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of o ...
as a
National Monument.
Other notable locations
There is a
ringfort close to the village, approximately in diameter which dates to between the fifth and tenth century. It is the burial place of almost twenty members of the
FitzGerald/FitzPierce family killed in the
Battle of Liscarroll
The Battle of Liscarroll was fought on 3 September 1642 in northern County Cork, Munster, between Catholic Irish insurgents and government troops. The battle was part of the Irish Rebellion, which had started in the north in 1641 reac ...
in 1642.
There are two donkey sanctuaries in the area, the Donkey Sanctuary and the Jones' household.
Liscarroll nestles in a valley surrounded by hills and this valley was once part of an ancient lake, which now lies approximately 60ft underground.
See also
*
List of towns and villages in Ireland
*
Battle of Liscarroll
The Battle of Liscarroll was fought on 3 September 1642 in northern County Cork, Munster, between Catholic Irish insurgents and government troops. The battle was part of the Irish Rebellion, which had started in the north in 1641 reac ...
References
External links
* {{official website, http://www.liscarroll.ie
Towns and villages in County Cork