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 Astna Street, Clonakilty, is one end of a careful scheme to reduce car dominance and increase dwell times in the village. Here, a small raised square has been created with space for sitting. Kerbs have been dropped and the bright buildings of the village left tp talk for themselves. it is a sensitive but effective intervention.
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 The tower od St Anne's Shandon is a landmark of Cork City. Situated on a a high hill overlooking the river it is visible for miles. The church was constructed on the site of a previous church destroyed in the Williamite Wars and was constructed between 1722 and 1726. On top of the town is a golden weathervane of a salmon. This sketch is from the nearby butter market - the Firkin Crane Building- now converted into a dance studio. To the side of the sketch are the columns of the nearby butter exchange of 1770. The butter market operated from the late eighteenth century to the 1920's. There is now a museum telling the story of the market in the building.
 St Coleman's Cathedral in Cobb was designed by George Ashlin and Edward Pugin in 1867 ( Pugin was son of Augustus Pugin who designed the gothic decoration of the London Houses of Parliament in 1840) . It is the tallest cathedral in Ireland (300ft) and its height is accentuated by its position half way down the steep slope to Cobh harbour. The building took 50 years to build, and, after construction had begun, a decision was taken to increase the decoration on the building and the current high gothic spiky profile was developed. This sketch is from a small park opposite the colourful terrace of houses stepping down to the harbour known as the 'deck of cards'. it is a very dramatic building and place. Well worth a visit.
 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.
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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