What we do know is that Castlecor House, which was demolished at some point in the past, may have been built directly on top of the medieval castle’s foundations. Writing in 1750, the historian Smith noted that near Castlecor House stood ‘a pleasant park, where are the remains of an ancient fortification, in the midst of which stood a castle of the Barry’s’. This reference to the Barry family, one of the most prominent Anglo-Norman families in Cork, gives us a clue about who originally built and occupied this fortification.

The interpretation of these historical accounts has sparked some debate amongst researchers. Bowman, writing in 1934, believed that Smith’s ‘ancient fortification’ actually referred to a ringfort located about 500 metres southeast of the house site, suggesting the castle itself may have been built within this much older Irish defensive structure. This would have been an unusual but not unheard of practice, as medieval castle builders sometimes incorporated earlier fortifications into their designs.

Further evidence comes from O’Flanagan’s work in 1844, which states quite clearly that Castlecor House ‘was built on the site of an ancient castle’. If this is accurate, it means the Georgian or Victorian country house that once stood here literally replaced the medieval stronghold, perhaps reusing some of its stone in the process. Today, with both the house and castle gone, visitors to the area can only imagine the layers of history that once existed on this site; from a possible early Irish ringfort, through a medieval Barry castle, to a later country house that has itself now vanished into memory.