Located near the village of Castlemagner in Co Cork, this ruined and overgrown structure is  the place that gives the village its name.  William Magner (or Magnuel) was granted this pace in 1183 following the Anglo Norman conquest. The site is elevated above a nearby river and may have been the location of a pre-existing Gaelic fort. Originally a stockade, the  tower construction is understood to have commenced in the 14th century at a time when the Duke of Clarence was fortifying the edge of Norman control against the McCarthy's. In the 15th century it was extended as a tower house and the curved stair tower added.  A defensive wall was added around the site at the same time. In the 17th century . Following burning in the Great Munster Rebellion of 1598 the structure was reinhabited and a two story house built alongside. Damaged again in the Comwellian period the buildings were again rebuilt, only to be destroyed in  1691 following occupation by Jacobites. the tower was deliberately blown up leaving the remnant we see today. In 1755 a new owner developed a Georgian hose on the Comwellian ruins. In the early nineteenth century the site was converted into a working farm. The house was extended westward into the former stable and this portion thatched. in 1934 the building was sold to the last resident owner. He removed the thatch following a fire in 1955 and replaced it with corrugated metal. He died in 1984 aged 95. the building has not subsequently been occupied and is now in a poor state.

Buttevant, on the road north from Cork, was also a walled town. It was founded in the early 1200's by the Anglo Normans and its walls were erected after 1317 . Though now largely gone, this view from the north east accross the  Awbeg  River showing the  catholic church (1828) and the ruins of the adjacent  Francuscan Friary (1251) gives some idea of what  it might have looked like as a defensive settlement. The walls  followed this river and, in their prime, were probably of similar height to the friary- a considerable investment. The town plan  has been linked  to similar towns founded during the period in North Wales and the bastides of south western France. All three areas were under the  nominal control of  Henry III, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine.

​Baltimore, Co Cork, is a busy village dominated by its restored castle. This is recorded as being built by the  Normans in 1215 and was in occupation until the mid Seventeenth Century. Effectively a tower house it is longer and  lower than  that late medieval type. It is a ‘hall house’. Such buildings typically are entered at first floor, have slit windows at ground floor level and a great hall at first floor with more open windows. They rarely have substantial outer defences.

​Westropp House is located at the end of the main street of Inishannon in Co Cork and stands out for the quality of its preservation and well proportioned design. It reputedly dates from around 1760.

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The Lagoon at Rosscarbery Co Cork. A great place to go on a day like this to get onto the water.

​Charles Fort guards the entrance to Kinsale harbour and is the best example of a seventeenth century star fort in Ireland. Shown here, is a view from the battlements towards Kinsale with the bridge to the fort’s classical entrance gate in the foreground. Also shown, is the complicated arrangement of counterscarp on the landward side of the ditch with firing steps allowing covering fire along lengths of the outer defence as well as from it. It is a classic example of the ‘trace italienne’ form of fortification which with a low thick wall outer ditch and angular bastions sought to mitigate the destructive power of artillery attack.

​Desmond Castle, Kinsale, Co.Cork, is an elegant tower house at the top of a steep street within the town. It dates from around 1500  and was  built as a Customs house and served as a prison in the 18th century. Upper floors display restored gothic windows of the period while the ground floor has later insertions of Georgian pane sash windows. It came under the care of the state in 1938 and today houses a museum of wine.  Worth a visit.

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Starbucks, Emmet Place, in Cork City, is housed in the very elegant ‘Queen Anne House’. This has unusual cornice shaped keystones over the windows which are interspaced with fine gauged brickwork. Inside, much of the detail is gone, and most rooms are stripped back to the brickwork. However it has character and  an elegant period staircase remains. The building has been claimed to date from 1730.
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In recent years, a large shopping centre has been built around and to the rear of the building which swamps its setting and makes it look a bit incongruous. The development also encroaches along its side in the form of a narrow glazed extension to the coffee shop and is attached at the rear. The effect is reminiscent of the extreme contrast between old and new found in places like Boston Massachusetts.

​The walls of Bandon Co Cork at their south west corner near St Peter’s Church. These were built between 1613 and 1627 to enclose the principal settlement of the Munster Plantation. Unlike the contemporary Derry Walls, they were not built low and thick to withstand cannon fire but rather tall and thin in the medieval way with circular projecting towers.

Further up the inlet is Courtmacsherry itself. This is the former gatehouse to what is now the Courtmacsherry Hotel and which was once a villa owned by  Lord Shannon.  The building with gothic inspired windows and overhanging eaves is very picturesque at the edge of the bay.