Ancient Togher - Part 02 - Knocknamallavoge Castle

It is not generally known by historians but Togher once had a Castle! The following article shines the spotlight on the mysterious structure which has completely and utterly disappeared! However in order to uncover the mystery , it is necessary to look at another castle in the vicinity first as shown in the following article.

Knocknamallavoge Castle - Probable Illustration

Atypical depiction of Medieval stone tower with bawn

Cross section showing various stories

Schematic detailing various parts of castle

Rochfordstown Castle

Because the castle itself is no more , it is necessary to look across the Laune Valley at its sister , Rochfordstown , whose remnants as a castle are miraculously preserved as part of an outbuilding complete with Armorial Shield dating to 1630 still extant! But , in common with its Knocknamallavoge neighbour , the original castle dated back to the Late Medieval Period. Likewise , before the Norman Invasion , this townland was part of the lands of the Ui Mc Ceir , so anciently it would have tied to Togher and as such it is pertinent to include it here as a standing example. The Rochford family had a lineage with the townland going back almost 400 years at that point in time , meaning they were in situ since the 1200s! In 1630 , Sir Robert Travers purchased the castle and its lands from the Rochfords and incorporated his own Amorial Shield into the castle. Their tenure was however extremely brief as in 1659 , it was in the hands of Cromwellian adventurer William Hodder. By the 1770s , the White family were the new owners who quickly cleared away the old ruins to build their Georgian Castle White estate. Thankfully , they incorporated some of the old castle ruins into a stable and mounted the old Amorial Shield of the Travers family on its walls. The house itself was recently sold again on 18th October 2023.

Old castle walls converted into stables

Close up view of Old castle walls & Amorial Shield

Castlewhite House

** It must be mentioned that the Travers acquisition of Rochfordstown Castle was cursed by bad fortune!, They had not been long as owners when the Irish Rebellion swept over the estate as McCarthy and his rebel troops commandeered the location as part of their efforts to lay siege to Cork City. Enter one Murrough O'Brien a.k.a. Lord Inchiquin , an Irish Protestant , who under cover of darkness on 1st April 1641 left Cork City , with 200 Cavalry and 300 men on foot , and managed to navigate his way down Maher's Lane and completely take the rebel garrison by surprise , which then fled towards Ballincollig. Travers ( who was the nephew of the Elizabethan Poet Edmund Spenser! ) would later fight on the side of his rescuer , Lord Inchiquin at the Battle of Knocknanuss where he unfortunately died. His Estate and Castle , without a male heir to oversee its maintenance , fell into disrepair. Even though he had fought on the side of the Parliamentary Forces , his entire estate was deemed forfeit in the later Cromwellian Confiscations and proving bad luck follows bad luck , a doomed petition by his descendants to King Charles II in the 1660s , following the restoration of the Monarchy proved fruitless and the estate was , as mentioned previously , granted to William Hodder , who would later become Mayor of Cork City!

Murrough O'Brien , Lord Inchiquin
who led the attack on Rochfordstown Castle 1641

Knocknamallavoge Castle

When looking at Knocknamallavoge , it is also nesseasary to look at the original occupiers. Once part of the lands of the Ui Mc Ceir sept , following the Norman Invasion of 1177 , it among many other townlands fell under the direct control of De Cogan. Their stranglehold on the townland including many others was considerably lessened when the old De Cogan feudal ties were forever broken in a massive buy out by the Ronaynes in 1539. In regards to Togher , not only did they aggressively purchase Doughcloyne but also added Knocknmallavoge ( aka Knocknamullagh ) to their portfolio. This new ownership endured for almost 2 Centuries. However , following a strategic marriage by Dominick Sarsfield to one Catherine Ronayne ( the niece of Anthony Ronayne who then owned Doughcloyne ) in 1727 , ownership would once more change hands. When Anthony passed away , the property legally transferred to Dominick Sarsfield. Their son Thomas Sarsfield , many years later would secure a 999 year lease on Knocknamallavoge directly from his Brother-in-law Thomas Ronayne. This particular tenure lasted right up to 1947 when the Sarsfields liquidated their entire property portfolio to the S.M.A. and departed for the U.K. Generational tenant farmers such as the Coveney's continued to reside in the townland after their departure.

THE CASTLE

Chart detailing the probable stone Tower House

The article will now attempt to piece together the story behind the Castle. This phantom structure must have existed as even the 1842 OS maps mark its footprint as " Castle , Site Of ". In common with its neighbour across the Laune Valley , Rochfordstown ( see above ) Knocknamallavoge was once in the hands of the Ui Mc Ceir sept until their demise following the Norman Invasion of 1177. De Cogan , a Norman Knight , was given command of the townland amomngst many other tracts of land. It is thought that initially a Motte and Bailey would have been constructed followed much later by a stone fortification. The footprint which still exists to this day betrays its past. A roughly rectangular template still existed in the 19th Century. Undoubtedly , the oddly shaped ground to its immediate west would have been its bawn , which in 1842 was a tree enclosed space , perhaps still surrounded by the remnants of a wall. What must be clarified though is the terminology. It most probably was not a castle at all , at least not in the truer sense of a castellated structure and was most likely a stone Tower House , perhaps 3 to 4 stories high surrounded by a bawn and gardens enclosed in a low stone wall ( see chart above ) with smaller peasant holdings outside or nearby. These were built in their thousands all over Ireland during the Late Medieval Period ( c.1400s ) and their purpose suited the scenario at the time. In the event of a raid , all people and cattle could be quickly hoarded inside behind a big heavy wooden door which would be barred on the inside. The occupiers were thus safe until help could arrive the following morning. Evidence from the time also suggests that the habit of pouring boiling oil from the top of the tower house down onto its invaders usually resulted in the band of thieves fearing for their lives and rapidly departing! It was only the advent of gunpowder and cannons which rendered their usefulness null and void. And it is perhaps this later invention which saw its death knell? As to the question of who built it , there can be no question but that De Cogan's descendants built it. The previously shown remains of Rochfordstown Castle show the type of stone which would have used in its construction and give a good indication of what it would have looked like.

Access Roads

1840s OS map showing " Castle , Site Of "
* Note : Access route down to Waterfall Road
& extant access route off Spur Hill to west

Access route off Spur Hill

The " Castle " would have had several access roads or routes. One which is still in existence to this day , can be found on Spur Hill not far from Crossnacroha aka Lios Cross which is near to an ancient Ring Fort ( see here ). Another more ancient extinct route lead down from the Castle first heading west and then following a wooded area southwards to the Glasheen River where a timber bridge lead onto the Waterfall Road. Over time this area became subject to frequent flooding and eventually the route was abandoned altogether. It must be mentioned that a later trackway which followed the Glasheen River down through Morrison's Ravine later linked up at the termination point of the old castle route , which today is guarded by a steel gate which is visible from the road. Another secondary route lead directly south from the actual castle but this was most probably a cattle road.

Original termination of old castle route

Later map showing disruption of old castle route 
and Morrison's Ravine trackway linking up 

Gate leading to Morrison's Ravine off Waterfall Road

Close up of gate which also marks the original
 termination of old castle route

The following images show a sandpit located close to the old south facing castle road. This would have been used for tenants for building purposes and today is a deep pit surrounded by heavy vegetation.

Sand pit indicated by circular radiating lines
and interior hachured vertical lines
dug out in 19th Century near old access route

Google Earth 3d image of sand pit

Demise of Castle

The challenge now in the absence of any empirical proof or even local folklore is how to discover what actually became of the Castle in Knocknamallavoge! However its location might just betray the reason for its disappearance. Ireland during the 14th and 15th Centuries amidst the Black Death or Bubonic Plague ( which weakened English control over the region ) was subject to a Gaelic Resurgence and the McCarthy's of Muskerry were in a position to begin reclaiming land which had been lost to the Normans. In this scenario , the stone tower house would have undoubtedly come under attack. Even if it had survived all of that , there was then the Confederate Wars of 1641 , where initially the McCarthy's again may have attacked , but leaving all of that aside , the arrival of Cromwell's forces in 1649 coupled with the advent of gunpowder and cannon , a hypothetical attack would have easily destroyed the stone tower. Another avenue of conjecture rests on the simple act of the owners dismantling the stone tower so as to lessen any interest in their land! Whilst all of the preceding scenarios are historically pure conjecture , at least one may be the truth. One thing is for certain. The castle is no more! Two final lines of inquiry now present themselves : Archaeological excavation or Lidar.  

Land to left of cattle road shows a distinct square shape
with outline of bawn to its north

Lidar image shows faint outline
south of access road as shown above

Acknowledgements:

https://roaringwaterjournal.com