Ightermurragh Castle

Ightermurragh Castle, lies in a field south of the Womanagh River, east of the village of Ladysbridge, in County Cork in Ireland.

Ightermurragh Castle was built in 1642 by Edmund Supple and his wife Margaret FitzGerald. Edmund and Margaret apparently were very happily married, as they had a Latin inscription, meaning 'whom love binds as one', placed above one of the fireplaces.

The castle's name is derived from the Gaelic sentence; "Agus an t-íochtar mo rógha", meaning "The lower is my choice". Supposedly this was said by Margaret when her father, having no male heirs, was letting his 3 daughters choose which lands they wanted as their inheritance.

Edmund and Margaret didn't enjoy their new castle for very long because soon after its completion the Irish Rebellion of 1641 had reached these lands. Edmund and Margaret had to flee, leaving behind their new castle, which was looted and burnt. In 1653 the Protestant Lord Broghill awarded himself with the FitzGeralds lands, amongst which was Ightermurragh Castle. With the Restoration in 1660, the Supples tried to recover their lands by a lawsuit but without success.

Apparently the castle was restored because in 1750 it was leased to a Mr. Smith. He also wasn't lucky here, for one night a couple of robbers broke into the castle. They tied Smith to the spit in the huge fireplace and roasted him, trying to get him to tell where his money was. He survived but, severely traumatized by his experience, fled to his relatives in Rathcoursey. After that, the castle was abandoned.

In the late 19th century the Earl of Shannon owned the ruined castle and tried to prevent the locals from looting the stonework.

The 5-storey castle has a cruciform ground plan. It still retains 6 of its originally 7 chimney stacks.

At present the ruin of Ightermurragh Castle is freely accessible. A very nice castle ruin.

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