edmond.odonoghue@gmail.com – Page 2 – Castlemagner Historical Society

8TH CENTURY CHURCH IN SUBULTER

The church in Subulter was built in around 780. It was built in a Romanesque style with local limestone. The church was at the centre of an old Gaelic settlement called Mona na Mandaragh. The settlement was probably built by followers of St Berrahert of Tullylease. St Berrahert is credited with converting a druidic settlement (which was probably located around the present site of Marybrook House).

An effigy of Síle Ní Gig, the supreme druidic Goddess of fertility, was set into the wall of the church in Subulter when it was built and later transferred to the Holy Well in Castlemagner. This suggests a strong converted druidic association with the early Christian church in Ireland. This would be in keeping with the Celtic Christian practice and teaching of this time. Continue reading “8TH CENTURY CHURCH IN SUBULTER”

St Brigit’s Graveyard

The present burial in the townland of Castlemagner has been in use from early Christian times (c. 800). It was walled in with the building of the new Church of Ireland church in 1817. The imposing gateway was a gift from Lord Arden of Lohort Castle. In 1926, the local landlord, Mr. Beecher, added about a third of an acre and in 1980 Cork County Council added another acre, which was also walled in and a new 12 foot entrance and gateway completed. Catholics and Protestants have been buried there side by side since 1591.

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Mallow Field Club Visit Ballygiblin

The Mallow Field Club were hosted at Ballygiblin, Cecilstown on a pleasant evening this 5 September. The event was led by Charles Mortell, chairman of the Mallow Field Club, with the O’Donoghue family, current owners of Ballygiblin, making the estate available for the evening. Continue reading “Mallow Field Club Visit Ballygiblin”

Mass Rock in Castlemagner

From 1591 until 1704, there were no Roman Catholic churches in Castlemagner. They were either converted to Protestant use or burned by Lord Brohill in the aftermath of the Battle of Carrigadrohid (1652). The era of the mass rock and Sunday Wells spanned this period in the parish of Castlemagner. Mass rocks were used in times of suppression of the Catholic religion to celebrate mass clandestinely since the celebration of the mass was forbidden by law.

There is a least one authenticated mass rock in the parish of Castlemagner. This is located in the extreme northern part of the parish in the townland of Kilguilky on the farm of Mr. Paddy Cronin. A 2004 celebration of mass by Father Stephen O’Mahony PP Castlemagner ( at the mass rock) gives a powerful image of what it must have been like to practice the Roman Catholic faith in Ireland during penal times.

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Castlemagner – An Abridged History

Castlemagner parish is at the eastern end of the Barony of Duhallow in North Cork. It includes the villages of Castlemagner and Cecilstown and the north east quarter of Kanturk town. In all its 7880 acres, thousand years of careful farming has enriched the naturally fertile soil and there is no wasteland. The troubled history of the nation has ebbed and flowed over its green fields since time immemorial: it was an old and settled place when the Magnels from Pembrokeshire made their way along the Blackwater valley and sank their roots deep into Castlemagner soil to shape the life of the parish for more than 450 years. Continue reading “Castlemagner – An Abridged History”

Plantagenet Dynasty

The Plantagenet dynasty began with the marriage of the empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, to Geoffrey Count of Anjou (d.1151) a grandson of William The Conqueror. He had the nickname ‘Plantgenet’ (lit. broom-planter) because he planted broom extensively to improve his hunting covers and always wore a sprig of broom on the rim of his hat. Curiously, the Parliament army at the battle of Knocknanuss 1647, wore the same plant for a badge on their hats .

Continue reading “Plantagenet Dynasty”

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”

Monastery of the Knights Templar in Subulter

In 1183 the north and eastern part of Castlemagner was overrun by Norman invaders named Barry. The eastern end was assigned to William Magner and the Northern end to the ‘Knights Templar’. These were a military order of lay monks drawn from the high ranking Norman ruling families. Those interested in understanding the true nature of this order of military monks can start their search here.

This order constructed a monastery in the present townland of Subulter overlooking the Marybrook bridge on the land occupied by the Taylor family. A manor farm to support this monastery was developed on the site of the present Marybrook House amounting to 600 acres and occupied parts of the present townlands of Subulter, Knocknanuss and Lackaleigh. A site in the southern end of Lackaleigh was set aside for stabling horses for farm work and war horses for the young knights. This site is occupied by the present Assolas house. Continue reading “Monastery of the Knights Templar in Subulter”