Glanworth Castle is dramatically situated on a cliff top above an ancient bridge and mill on the River Funshion in north-east County Cork. Its origins as a castle go back to the late twelfth century, when it was initially a Condon castle. However, by 1300 it had passed to the Roche family and remained their property until they were dispossessed by the Cromwellians in the 1650s. By the early eighteenth century it had fallen into ruin.

Archaeological excavations, in conjunction with conservation works, were carried out in the 1980s soon after the castle was acquired as a National Monument. The book contains a full report on the excavations along with a history of the castle and an analysis of its building phases, extending over five centuries. Most of the finds date from the seventeenth century and throw light on the lifestyle of Lord Roche and his family, who would have spent part of the year at Glanworth. This book will be of great interest to people in the locality as well as to anyone interested in castles and the medieval and early modern periods generally in Ireland.

Conleth Manning is a Senior Archaeologist with the National Monuments Service, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.