Background to Kanturk Castle
Kanturk was the ancient capital of the Barony of Duhallow in north County Cork. The name 'Kanturk' comes from the Irish 'Céann Tuirc' which means boar's head.
The castle was built around 1601 for MacDonagh MacCarthy, Lord of Duhallow, as a defence against the English Settlers. It was a tudor style mansion four storeys high, 28 metres in length and 11 metres wide. Each tower had five storeys and rose to a height of 29 metres. It was constructed of rubble limestone from the quarry which lies just north of the castle.
The Story goes....
The castle was never completed as the news of its building reached the Privy Council in England. They ordered MacDonagh to stop building as they were afraid it would be used as a fortress to attack the English settlers.
Kanturk Castle
This is an illustration of Kanturk Castle in County Cork from around 1750. According to legend, the Castle was built by one of the MacDonagh MaCarthy's around 1601. Queen Elizabeth I ordered the building of it to be stopped as it looked like a fortress. Compare this image to the photograph of the Castle today. Notice how there is a roof on the Castle in the old image? Do you think the legend is true?
Kanturk Castle
Kanturk Castle
This is an illustration of Kanturk Castle in County Cork from around 1750. According to legend, the Castle was built by one of the MacDonagh MaCarthy's around 1601. Queen Elizabeth I ordered the building of it to be stopped as it looked like a fortress. Compare this image to the photograph of the Castle today. Notice how there is a roof on the Castle in the old image? Do you think the legend is true?
According to legend, MacDonagh was so angry at hearing this that he smashed all the blue ceramic tiles for the roof and threw them into a nearby stream. The stream became known as the The Bluepool Stream because of the reflection of the tiles in the water.