Lisgriffin Castle

Lisgriffin Castle lies in a field in the townland of the same name, in County Cork, in Ireland.

Lisgriffin Castle was presumably built around 1605/1610 by the Barry family. Some sources stated its builder was Garret Barry. Garret, however, left Ireland in 1602, after the Siege of Kinsale and took up service in the Spanish army, only to return in the 1630s. It stayed in the hands of the Barrys, until the 1650s, with only a couple of short interruptions in the 1640s.

In 1657, the castle was taken from the Barrys due to their participation in the Irish Rebellion. It was then granted to William Grove. No more historical facts about the castle are known. By 1814 the castle was already in ruins. Apparently more survived throughout the 19th century, up until at least 1911, when Colonel Grove-White removed a fine limestone mantelpiece from the top floor to have it placed in his own residence in Doneraile.

Although called a castle, it is more correctly a stronghouse. It was built on a site where it overlooked the Bregoge River valley.

As Lisgriffin Castle is situated on a private pasture, so it can not be visited. But it can easily be seen, although from a distance, from the private road or the graveyard of the Lisgriffin Roman Catholic Church. A curious ruin that looks like it could topple with just a gust of wind.

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