Скачать или смотреть A visit to Castlelyons, Co. Cork in 2012

A slideshow of photos I took during my first visit to Castlelyons on Saturday 14th April 2012.

Castlelyons (Irish: Caisleán Ó Liatháin) is a village in the northeast of County Cork. The name is derived from a stronghold of the Uí Liatháin - an early medieval kingdom. It is situated 6 km/3.7 miles south of Fermoy. The village recorded a population of 374 in the 2016 Census while Bridesbridge had a population of 187 in the 2016 Census. Two stone bridges crossing the River Bride into the village - one a small footbridge and the other a bridge which was part of the entrance into Barrymore Castle - the seat of the Earls of Barrymore.

Castlelyons Roman Catholic parish is in the Diocese of Cloyne. The parish is an area rich in historical sites and is made up of three main districts - Coolagown, Britway and Castlelyons/Bridesbridge. Three quarters of the parish extend along the banks of the River Bride.
During the English Civil War, the Battle of Castlelyons in 1645 was fought near the village.

Hunting, shooting and fishing are popular in the area and there is both a gun club and an angling club. The village has an excellent pitch & putt course overlooking the Sean Abhainn stream. The village has a GAA pitch and squash courts.
Castlelyons GAA club was set up in 1948. Castlelyons won the Cork Junior ‘B’ hurling county championship in 1991, the county Junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship in 1997, the Intermediate County Championship in 1998 and reached the Cork Senior Hurling County semi-final in 2001.

Castlebridge Celtic is the local soccer club and was founded in 1995.

St Nicholas Athletics Club was originally founded in 1982 and was a highly successful competitive club. The club also hosted many cross country events including national and European events in Morrison’s fields. After many years of success the club dissolved in 1992. St Nicholas A.C was resurrected as a club and was registered and affiliated with Athletics Ireland on the 1st of February 2011 as a primarily juvenile athletics club.

Fr. Ferris Community Park was officially opened on October 3rd 2010.

St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Church was built in 1845. It was renovated in the 1870’s. Canon Peter O’Leary (An t’Athair Peadair O’ Laoghaire) an Irish language author and Parish Priest of Castlelyons is buried in the church grounds. The Irish revolutionary Thomas Kent who was killed by British Forces in 1916 is buried in the Kent family tomb in the church grounds.

Castlelyons Castle was built by David Barry, the first Earl of Barrymore in the 17th century. The building of the castle commenced shortly after David Barrys marriage to Alice Boyle in 1621. In order to transfer the Barrymore home from Barryscourt to Castlelyons the Earl mortgaged the old home to the Earl of Cork who was his father in law, Richard Boyle. It was built on the site of an older castle which was renovated and a superb new building of limestone was added. and was the Irish residence of the Barrymores until 1771 when it was burnt down in an accidental fire. At its most complete stage the castle consisted of three parts. These were the new Jacobian part, the more ancient part which had a stone arched roof and many smaller chambers and a third part which consisted of a tower.

Castlelyons Abbey was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is believed to have been built in 1309 by John De Barry for the Carmelites Order. The more reliable opinion is that these ruins date from the 15th century. The main items of interest are the nave and chancel of the abbey church. A tower seperates the nave from the chancel. It has a spiral stairway which goes all the way to the top but position of the tower is now missing.

The choir has three recumbent grave slabs, one with a cross, one with insignia of a blacksmith and a third with inscriptions bearing the date 1614. There are now 13 slabs on the floor of the choir, all are very worn but have crosses on them and probably vary from the 14th to 17th century.

After the reformation the Abbey came into the hands of Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork. His daughter Alice married David 1st Earl of Barrymore in 1621. It was for this couple that the castle at Castlelyons was built. Her father left her this property in his will and thus this land came into the ownership of the Barrymores.

During the 17th and 18th centuries the abbey was used as a hedge school. One tradition is that a portion of the abbey wall collapsed and killed one of the pupils. At a later date the abbey church was used as a handball alley. Today it is a national monument.

At Kill St. Anne there is the ruin of a medieval church which was built in either the 13th or 14th Century. A new Church of Ireland was built in 1771 inside the nave of the older church. It was extensively renovated in 1899. It ceased functioning as a church 1962. The church grounds contains a mausoleum erected around 1747 where members of the Barrymore family are buried.