placenamesBallynacarriga
Béal na Carraige
The castle above Ballynacarriga Lough combines defensive stonework with religious images and an inscription associated with Randal Hurley and Catherine O’Cullane.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Béal na Carraige · Irish · main form · validated name
- Ballynacarriga · English · main form
- Ballinacarriga · English · main form · local name
Place & story
The Hurley castle
The four-storey tower house overlooking Ballynacarriga Lough contains sixteenth-century work, although the Office of Public Works notes suggestions of an earlier origin. The Hurley family acquired the castle, possibly from the MacCarthys; the circumstances are uncertain. In 1654 it was forfeited to the Crofts. Its history therefore spans both Gaelic lordship and the seventeenth-century redistribution of estates. [2]
Defending the entrance
A slot above the eastern entrance accommodated a portcullis. Projecting bartizans protected diagonally opposite corners, while remnants of a machicolation survive above the doorway. Inside, a spiral stone stair connected the storeys. Fireplaces on the second and fourth levels and windows throughout show how domestic accommodation was fitted within a building designed for defence. [2]
Faith and family in stone
The window recesses contain carvings of the Instruments of Christ’s Passion. Another figure, accompanied by five rosettes, is interpreted as Catherine O’Cullane with her children. An inscription dated 1585 is associated with Catherine and Randal Hurley. These images preserve personal and religious associations alongside the tower’s military features; their interpretation remains qualified in the official account. [2]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Cork
- Barony
- Carbery East (E.D.)
- Civil parish
- Ballymoney
- Within
- Ballymoney
- Within
- Ballynacarriga
- Coordinates
- 51.70705, -9.02723 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1412746 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballynacarriga. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Ballynacarriga Castle · Office of Public Works, Heritage Ireland
- Ballynacarriga Castle, County Cork illustration: based on a Ballynacarriga Castle, County Cork (7 July 2007) by Mike Searle. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.