Belvelly Castle

Belvelly Castle lies on the shore of Great Island in Cork Harbour, in County Cork in Ireland.

Belvelly Castle was built by the Hodnett family, an Anglo-Norman family who originated from Shropshire, England. This family came to this part of Ireland in the 12th century. The castle was probably built somewhere in the 13th century and guarded the ford linking Great Island to the mainland.

In 1329 the castle was taken from the Hodnetts by the more powerful De Barry family and, shortly after, returned to them as a lease.

Belvelly Castle came into the possession of Sir Walter Raleigh in 1581. He described the castle as 'broken down' and had it restored.

In 1636 the castle again came into the hands of the De Barry family and in 1647 Roger Boyle, the Earl of Broghill, garrisoned his troops here during the Confederate War. The last occupant of Belvelly Castle was Sir Peter Courthorpe, from 1624 to 1650.

In the middle of the 19th century, Belvelly Castle was already described as a ruin.

During the 1939-1945 Emergency, the army occupied the castle. The horizontal gun slits in the eastern and western walls of the tower date back to that time.

A couple of years back, Belvelly Castle was actually for sale! You can still view its info (price, interior pictures and plans) on the site of the real estate agent: Premier Properties Ireland. After it was sold, it was restored and now is no longer a ruin, but a private residence. This is a beautiful tower on a very nice location, too bad I couldn't access it when it was still a ruin.

The Belvelly Martello Tower lies ca. 100 meters to the west.

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