Nohaval Castle
Nua Chongbhail: New Settlement
...
The view from the spot immediately over the river to the north, where I imagine a castle would have been, is magnificent, and would give all that a guardian fortress at the edge of a territory would need to provide. The Paps of Dana form the central point of this spectacular view. This particular site bears all the evidence of being inan old lios, which tends to make the site a likely one. The bridge below is also called Duncannonbridge after this old lios or Dun. The castle if it existed, and I feel despite the lack of local knowledge or documentation that it must have done, whould have been of the O'Keeffes; but up to the time of the finalisaiton of my notes I have nothing absolutely positive, beyond the fact that an inquisition of 1639 described Art O'Keeffe of Dromagh as being owner of the land. Despite the name the O'Daly land would, at that later stae at least, have been on the other side of the river, in Kerry. It is possible of course that at one time they may have held land under the O'Keeffes. (1)
(1) The Castles of County Cork With 72 line drawings and 10 maps by the author James N. Healy
Copyright © 1988 by James N. Healy, p. 360.
Material reproduced by permission of the publisher.
The Mercier Press Limited
4 Bridge Street Cork
24 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1
