May 2017 – Castlemagner Historical Society

Knocknanuss 1647-1997, 350 Year Commememoration

The following is an account from a local newspaper, The Corkman, of the special event that was organised by the Castlemagner Historical Society to commemorate the Battle of Knocknanuss on 17 August 1997. Shane Scanlon wrote the article.

A FAMOUS piece of North Cork history was recalled at the weekend when a special ceremony was held in Castlemagner to commemorate Munster’s biggest ever battle.

Rob McDonald Parker Chamberlain to the High Council of Clan Donald

The fields of Knocknanuss might now be a picture of calm and serenity but 350 years ago, they were the location of one of Ireland’s bloodiest battles. The Battle of Knocknanuss saw some fierce fighting between the Parliamentary forces under Lord Inchiquin and the Confederate forces of Lord Theobald Taaffe – claiming the lives of 3,500 soldiers during November 1647.

Three and half centuries later, people from home and abroad gathered at the site to celebrate peace and reconciliation. Douglas Kerr represented the British Ambassador, Veronica Sutherland, at the commemoration while there was a large gathering of community and army representatives, as well as historians. Continue reading “Knocknanuss 1647-1997, 350 Year Commememoration”

The Great Famine – Why did it happen ?

Ireland experienced a number of famines during the 18th and 19th century, the most severe being 1846 – 1849. The following explanations have been offered for this period;

failure of the potato crop due to blight
overpopulation
machination in agriculture causing unemployment in rural areas
bad government and oppressive government

To examine all of these separately would not give a complete answer as any one of them would not of itself cause starvation. There is no wisdom like the wisdom of hindsight so it is in hindsight that we attempt to give a fair and accurate account of events in England in Ireland in the years 1845 -1848 that caused over 6 million people to die of starvation in 3 years. Continue reading “The Great Famine – Why did it happen ?”

The Great Famine – A Castlemagner Perspective

If you could step into a time machine and travel back 170 years you would have witnessed a most distressing scene at the cross-roads in Castlemagner village. It was the time of the Great Irish Famine. While the fertile lands of Castlemagner parish meant that the local population did not succumb to the same mortal fate of their fellow country men and women, the procession of those less fortunate from other parts of county Cork wove a path to a soup kitchen ran from the present Castle Bar in Castlemagner. Its hard to imagine that the current pub building that bears witness to the social vagaries of modern village life was once the scene of such despair and death. Continue reading “The Great Famine – A Castlemagner Perspective”