County: Cork Site name: Castlepook South
Sites and Monuments Record No.: CO017-027 Licence number: 12E0382
Author: Eamonn Cotter
Site type: Tower-house
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 561479m, N 611468m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.253572, -8.564196
The tower-house at Castlepook South is located c. 3km north of Doneraile in North Cork. It stands five storeys high, with a single main vault over the third floor. Externally it measures 14m east-west x 9.5m. It stands at the north-west corner of a sub-rectangular bawn measuring 45m x 40m. The remains of the bawn wall stand c. 1m high and are easily traced, though largely overgrown. Excavation is being carried out in advance of the reconstruction of the tower-house by its new owner. The first phase comprises the excavation of a 4m wide strip around the exterior of the tower-house, and the excavation of the interior ground floor. The excavation commenced in early December 2012. The main findings were of a roughly paved area immediately outside the entrance to the tower-house and foundations of another building immediately to the north-east. Numerous sherds of 18th-century pottery found in this building suggest that it post-dates the tower-house.
The excavation will continue in 2013.
Ballynanelagh, Rathcormac, Co. Cork
