Castle Donovan ( ga, Caisleán Uí Dhonnabháin) or Castledonovan or O'Donovan's Castle refer to the remains of an Irish

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 ...

or ''túrtheach'', in a valley near

Drimoleague Drimoleague (historically ''Drumdalege'', ) is a village on the R586 road at its junction with the R593 in County Cork, Ireland. It lies roughly halfway between the towns of Dunmanway and Bantry, within the civil parish of Dromdaleague. As of ...

, of medium size which was the so-called "seat" of the Clann Cathail sept of the

O'Donovan The O'Donovans are an Irish family. Their patronymic surname derives from Irish ''Ó Donnabháin'', meaning the grandsons or descendants of Donnubán, referring to the 10th century ruler of the Uí Fidgenti, Donnubán mac Cathail. During the ...

s for a period during the 16th century. The original name of the castle, and when the O'Donovans were actually living in it, was Sowagh (or Sooagh, Suagh) before the 17th century. The name of ''Castle Donovan'', after the ''Manor of the Castle of O'Donovan'', is associated with a regrant from

James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...

in 1615. Approximately 60 feet in height, it sits on a large rock or outcropping, which forms the ground floor, close to the bank of the

River Ilen The River Ilen () is a river in West Cork, Ireland. It rises at Mullaghmesha mountain and flows southwards for 37 kilometres into the Celtic Sea. Its five main tributaries are, the Saivnose, Coarliss, Achrinduff, Glounaphuca and Clodagh. It is ...

. It is commonly believed to have been built, or at the very least augmented, by

Donal of the Hides Donal of the Skins or Hides ( ga, Domhnall na g-Croiceann), also called Peltry O'Donovan or simply Donal I O'Donovan ( ga, Domhnall Ó Donnabháin), was The O'Donovan Mor, Lord of Clancahill from his inauguration with the White Wand circa 1560 ...

, Lord of Clancahill from about 1560 to his death 1584. His son

Donal II O'Donovan Donal II O'Donovan ( ga, Domhnall Ó Donnabháin), The O'Donovan of Clann Cathail, Lord of Clancahill (died 1639), was the son of Ellen O'Leary, daughter of O'Leary of Inchigeelagh, Carrignacurra, and Donal of the Skins, The O'Donovan of Clann Ca ...

then repaired or further altered the structure some decades later, but was not living in it by then. It is believed that his father had already relocated the family in the first decade of that century to the more profitable Rahine Manor on the seacoast to protect their maritime interests. According to tradition the tower was severely damaged by

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 ...

's soldiers in the late 1640s, blown up with powder in retaliation for

Donal III O'Donovan Donal III O'Donovan ( ga, Domhnall Ó Donnabháin), The O'Donovan of Clancahill, born before 1584, was the son of Helena de Barry and Donal II O'Donovan, The O'Donovan of Clancahill. From the inauguration of his father in 1584 to the date of his ...

joining the Stuart side and for his involvement in the rebellion and massacres of 1641, and has been uninhabited since that time. In 1834, Philip Dixon Hardy published an account of his 1828 journey to the "vale of Castle Donovan", including a drawing in which several of the outbuildings can still be seen, in the ''

Dublin Penny Journal The ''Dublin Penny Journal'' was a weekly newspaper, and later series of published volumes, originating from Dublin, Ireland, between 1832 and 1836. Published each Saturday, by J. S. Folds, George Petrie (artist), George Petrie, and Caesar Otway, ...

''. He says: The tower's surrounding wall or

bawn A bawn is the defensive wall surrounding an Irish tower house. It is the anglicised version of the Irish word ''bábhún'' (sometimes spelt ''badhún''), possibly meaning "cattle-stronghold" or "cattle-enclosure".See alternative traditional spe ...

and outbuildings are now gone, but over two thirds of the tower still remain. The 17th century explosion left only a small gouge in the southwest corner, but caused huge cracks in the masonry, leaving the structure unsafe, and over two centuries later the entire western wall, excluding the still intact spiral staircase, and majority of the southern wall collapsed. It underwent conservation by 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 ow ...

between 2001 and 2014 and is a listed

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

Notes

References

* Adams, Constance Louisa, with Lucius O'Brien (illus.),
Castles of Ireland: Some Fortress Histories and Legends
'. London: Elliot Stock. 1904. * Butler, W.F.T., "The Barony of Carbery", in
Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society Volume X, Second Series
'. 1904. pp. 1–10, 73–84. * Carroll, Michael J. and Alan Langford (illus.), ''The Castles and Fortified Houses of West Cork''. Bantry Design Studios. 2001. * Donovan, Daniel,
Sketches in Carbery, County Cork. Its Antiquities, History, Legends, and Topography
'. Dublin: McGlashan & Gill. 1876. * FitzPatrick, Elizabeth, ''Royal Inauguration in Gaelic Ireland c. 1100-1600: A Cultural Landscape Study''. Boydell Press. 2004. * Hardy, Philip Dixon, "Castle Donovan", in ''The

, Vol. III, No. 122, November 1, 1834.'' pp. 137–9
Available here at Googlebooks
* Legrand, Caroline
"Du tourisme généalogique dans l'Irlande contemporaine"
''Revue de Synthèse. Volume 123, Number 1''. December, 2002. pp. 131–47. * Legrand, Caroline, ''La quête de parenté. Pratiques et enjeux de la généalogie en Irlande''. Québec: Presses Université Laval. 2006. * O'Donovan, John (ed. and tr.), '' Annala Rioghachta Eireann. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1616''. 7 vols. Dublin:

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

. 1848-51. 2nd edition, 1856
Volume VI
Pedigree of O'Donovan, pp. 2430–83 * Ó Murchadha, Diarmuid, ''Family Names of County Cork''. Cork: The Collins Press. 2nd edition, 1996. {{refend Castles in County Cork Ruins in the Republic of Ireland O'Donovan family National Monuments in County Cork

See also

Notes

References