Castle Salem

Castle Salem, County Cork
Photo © Mike Searle, 7 July 2007

Castle Salem near Ross Carbery - More properly known as Benduff, the castle was built during the C15 or C16 by the MacCarthy Reaghs, and unlike most castles in the area, Benduff nestles amongst the hills in a wooded valley. Originally built as a rectangular tower house, an L shaped country house was added during the latter half of the C17.

For their part in the Battle of Kinsale, the MacCarthys forfeited their lands, and Benduff was granted to a Major Morris, an officer in Cromwell's army. His son William Morris managed to retain the property, even after the Restoration. Under the influence of his friend William Penn (founder of Pennsylvania in the USA), William became a Quaker, and it was he who renamed the house Castle Salem.

Today the property is owned by the Daly family, who for a donation, give conducted tours of the castle, and also operate a modern B & B from the original C17 house.

CASTLE SALEM

BENDUFF, signifying the black peak or gable, was the former name of this fortress, which was built on a rock in the centre of a small valley about a mile north-west of Ross, in East Carbery, Co. Cork.

The present ruins consist of the castle and a more modern dwelling-house, which was added to the back of the fortress and communicated with it by the ancient doorway of the keep, about 12 feet from the ground, and which gave access to the first landing of the more modern staircase. The castle had three arches, the walls being 11 feet thick, and containing passages and recesses. A stone stair led to the summit, which originally was reached at about 70 feet from the ground.

When in possession of the Morris family the old covering was replaced by a slated roof, the material for which was, no doubt, procured at the neighbouring slate quarry. The situation is so enclosed by the surrounding hills that figs grew plentifully here in former days. The pleasure grounds were at one time laid out in the Dutch style; yew, beech, and laurel grew to great perfection, and in a grove of the latter a rookery was established. The remains of a deer-park wall are still to be seen.

The fortress is generally supposed to have been erected by the O'Donovans, but it is also ascribed to the Lady Catherine Fitzgerald, daughter of Thomas, 8th Earl of Desmond, and sister-in-law to the long-lived Countess. This would place its building at the later end of the fifteenth century. There are various legends told about "the black lady" in connection with Benduff, and they may refer to the above Geraldine. Later the castle belonged to the M'Carthys, and at the time of the Commonwealth confiscation it was in the possession of one Florence M'Carty. The estate was granted to Major Apollo Morris, an officer in Cromwell's army, during the seventeenth century, and upon the restoration of Charles II. he retained his lands through the interest of the King's secretary, to whom he was related.

The grant was preserved in the castle until the middle of the nineteenth century, when Mr. William Morris sent it to a Cork bookseller for publication, and it was lost through the failure of the firm. Major Morris was succeeded by William Morris, who was an intimate friend of the great William Penn. On the right-hand side of the avenue is an old Quaker burial-ground, which was established by him, and to which "Friends'" funerals came from all parts of Cork. He was himself interred there, but against all the rules of the order a tomb was erected to his memory, which may still be seen, and after that the Quakers ceased to bring their dead to Benduff for interment. The property passed from the possession of the Morris family into that of the Fitzgibbons.

Reference

Castles of Ireland - Some Fortress Histories and Legends by C. L. Adams 1904