Rossbrin Castle

OMG! The sun has been shining - all day! An adventure beckoned. I have attempted to get to Rossbrin Castle several times- its wonky and engimatic stack appears  enticingly on the horizon then seems to disappear as you get close to it. Finola, of rock art fame, told me how to get there. You have to go through a farmyard, but the bachelor farmer has recently died and the farm is for sale ( 885,000 euros plus castle) so a bit of trespass wouldn't be too serious. Ignoring the very large No Trespass and Beware of the Bull signs I climbed over two gates and proceeded - passed the old farm and up to the castle. It sits on the most amazing site, perched on a rock, guarding Rossbrin Bay - one of many tower house built strategically along the coast in the mid 15c. Not much remains today but once this four storeyed castle was the seat of Finghinn o Manthuna 'a great scholar in Irish, Latin and English'. He died in 1496 but not before he had translated many famous documents into Irish, including the travels of  John Mandeville - a 14C adventurer who followed in the footsteps of Marco Polo. Apparently Christopher Columbus read this work (probably the latin version!) which added fuel to his thoughts that the world was not flat but round. Finghinn is meant to have heard this contraversial news via Spanish fishing fleets who trawled Irish waters.
Having been a seat of scholarship and learning by the mid 16C the o Mahoneys were being charged with piracy and the chief, Donal, was hung.  The family then seems to have been outlawed on a regular basis but this part of west Cork is still heaving with O Mahoneys!

In the very useful book I have that tells me about interesting things, reference was also made to a holy well across the harbour. I set off to explore. A woman parked her car and I inquired whether she might know anything. No, but a a local woman was approaching who might. She did! She hadn't been for years, she told me, but she knew of a man who's daughter, Alba, had been cured of warts by visiting it. She directed me to a little quay and told me to walk 50 paces and scrutinise the rocks and look out for signs of gushing water. I did and lo and behold there was a tiny spring coming down onto the beach with a little stone basin around it. Result!

Home, and the peas, broadbeans and some tomatoes have been sown. I've also pruned the hydrangeas. A productive day. What a difference a bit of sunshine makes.

Edit: How odd , it was another crumbly castle this time last year  too!