Carrignamuck

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Carrignamuck
TOWNLAND
Irish: Carraig na Muc
County Cork
Castles of Munster, Carrignamuck, Cork (2) - geograph.org.uk - 1392952.jpg
Carrignamuck Tower House
Location
Location: 51°55’31"N, 8°45’46"W
Grid reference: W475750
Data

Carrignamuck is a rural townland in County Cork, 363.76 acres in size, spread out north-east of Coachford village, and north-west of Dripsey village, its only settlements of note. Its name is from the Irish Carraig na Muc, meaning 'Rock of the pigs'.

Map of Carrignamuck

One of the earliest references to Carrignamuck is contained within an Elizabethan fiant of 1573, when a pardon was granted to Donald m'Teig M'Cartie of Carignymucke.[1] This is likely to have been Donyll McTeige MacCarthy (tanist of Muskerry and brother of Sir Cormac McTeige MacCarthy of Blarney Castle) who resided at Carrignamuck Tower House. In a sketch map dated c. 1590 and titled the description of Muskery, the area is described as Carrigomuck.[2] The OS name book (c. 1840), in addition to mentioning the 'ruins, house and demesne of Dripsey Castle' describes Carraig na Muc as 'bounded on the north and east by the Dripsey River, on the south by Kilgobinet and Dereen townlands and in the Barony of East Muskerry', and mainly being 'under cultivation'.

The Down Survey Maps (1656-8) refer to it as Carrickmuck (Barony of Muskerry Map)[3] and Carrignemucke (Parish Map). The accompanying terrier states that 'on Carrignamucke stands a Castle and a Mill' naming the proprietor as Cormack McCallaghane Carthy who held 574 acres.[4] Smith in 1774 refers to 'the castle of Carignamuck'.[5]

By the early nineteenth century, the townland was commonly named as Carrignamuck, with Lewis in 1837 referring to 'the ancient castle of Carrignamuck'[6]

The majority of sources, such as O'Murchú (1991) [7] contend that the name 'Carrignamuck' derives from Carraig na Muc meaning 'rock of the pigs'. O'Donoghue (1986) holds that 'Carrig na Muc' derives its name 'from a pass in the nearby Dripsey River where it was customary to kill pigs which provided supplies of bacon for the castle ... while the Lord of Muskerry lived at Blarney, his Tanist always held Carrignamuck'.[8] Another version is that 'the proper name of Carrignamuck was Carrigcormac ... and that Carrignamuck Tower House was so called after Cormac Laidher McCarthy, the builder of Blarney Castle'.[9] Milner (1975) also subscribes to this alternative view.[10]

Sights of the townland

References

  1. de Búrca, Éamonn (1994). The Irish Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns; Vol. 2 1558-86. Dublin. 
  2. "The description of Muskery, Dartmouth map collection, Royal Museums Greenwich". http://collections.rmg.co.uk/archive/objects/541704.html. Retrieved 24 February 2014. 
  3. "Down Survey map 1656-8 (Barony of Muskery)". http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/down-survey-maps.php#bm=Muskerry&c=Cork&indexOfObjectValue=-1&indexOfObjectValueSubstring=-1. Retrieved 13 April 2014. 
  4. "Down Survey map 1656-8 (Killcoleman Mattehy and Iniscarragh, Muskerry, Cork)". http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/down-survey-maps.php#bm=Muskerry&c=Cork&indexOfObjectValue=-1&indexOfObjectValueSubstring=-1&p=Killcoleman+Mattehy+and+Iniscarragh. Retrieved 13 April 2014. 
  5. Smith, Charles. The ancient and present state of the county and city of Cork (vol. 1, 2nd ed.). Dublin, 1774. 
  6. Lewis, Samuel (1837). A topographical dictionary of Ireland. S. Lewis. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_wqzRAAAAMAAJ_2. Retrieved 19 February 2014. 
  7. O'Murchú, M. (Dec 1991). "Place names of the parish of Aghabullogue". Coachford Record 2. 
  8. O'Donoghue, B. (1986). Parish histories and place names of west Cork. Kerryman Ltd.. 
  9. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society xxxv. 1930. 
  10. Milner, Liam (1975). The River Lee and its tributaries. Cork: Tower Books.