Crowley Castle

Crowley Castle lies in a field in the townland of Ahakeera in County Cork in Ireland.

Crowley Castle was most probably built between 1450 and 1500 by the O'Crowley clan. When in 1488 Auliff O’Crowley was recognized as lord of Kilshallow by the MacCarthy Reagh and Henry VII of England, he was most probably already living in the castle. The castle was probably destroyed around 1602 by English troops carrying out a scorched earth policy. By the late 1880s only the present ruin remained albeit rising to a much greater height, at that time the ruin was knocked down to half its height for safety reasons.

A geophysical archaeological survey showed that the castle would have consisted of a main building block, with a tower at one side, allowing for a protective lobby and staircase. It had a partial stone bawn completed by a wooden palisade which had a gate tower.

Crowley Castle is not accessible. The land it stands on is private farmland and besides it is small and doesn't show much architectural detail. I myself was mobbed by a gang of intrusive cows.

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