Peter Pearson visits Barryscourt Castle in Cork, seat of the Barry family until the 17th century
There are thousands of tower houses still standing in Ireland and they are among the most impressive stone-built monuments in our landscape. These castles have survived over the centuries, usually in ruins, in the middle of fields or by coastal inlets and serve as poignant reminders of our troubled past. A tower house is a tall, fortified structure, where the upper floors serve as a dwelling and the lower spaces, including the entrance, are strongly built and well protected. Barryscourt Castle, a fine example of a tower house, was originally situated at the head of a silted-up tributary to the estuary of Cork Harbour. It stood near the Slatty Lake and River and may once have had its own water mill and an extended village community. Named after its builder, the Barry family, the castle was strategically placed on the main route between Cork and Youghal.
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