Carrigaphooca Castle

Carrigaphooca Castle is a ruined five-storey rectangular tower house perched on a steep-sided rock overlooking the River Sullane, six kilometers west of Macroom in County Cork. Built in 1436, probably by Donal McCarthy of Drishane during the MacCarthys' territorial expansion in Muskerry, the castle's name means 'castle on the rock of the fairy.' The ground floor features small off-center windows and a straight mural staircase that spirals to the upper levels. Restored by the Office of Public Works in the 1970s with the addition of access steps, the castle commands dramatic views in an archaeologically rich region where neolithic stone circles dot nearby fields.