Ria O’Sullivan: Blackrock Castle, Pirates, Observatory,
Title
Ria O’Sullivan: Blackrock Castle, Pirates, Observatory,
Subject
Cork's Built Heritage
Description
Ria talks about the history and purpose of Blackrock Castle. She explains that the building was bought by Cork County Council and saved from dereliction. It went on to house a science centre and an observatory.
Note: this interview was conducted for the DVD If the Walls Could Talk.
Note: this interview was conducted for the DVD If the Walls Could Talk.
Date
15 October 2013
Identifier
CFP_SR00496_osullivan_2013
Coverage
Cork City; Ireland; Built Heritage; 1770s-200Os;
Relation
If the Wall Could Talk: Stories Of Cork's Heritage Catalogue Numbers:
CFP_SR00492_herlihy_2013;
CFP_SR00493_walsh_2013;
CFP_SR00494_butler_2013;
CFP_SR00495_faris_2013;
CFP_SR00496_osullivan_2013;
CFP_SR00497_ryan_2013;
CFP_SR00498_holland_2013;
CFP_SR00499_hartnett&osullivan_2013;
CFP_SR00500_mccarthy_2013;
CFP_SR00505_healy_2013;
CFP_SR00506_gleeson_2013;
CFP_SR00507_miller_2013;
CFP_SR00492_herlihy_2013;
CFP_SR00493_walsh_2013;
CFP_SR00494_butler_2013;
CFP_SR00495_faris_2013;
CFP_SR00496_osullivan_2013;
CFP_SR00497_ryan_2013;
CFP_SR00498_holland_2013;
CFP_SR00499_hartnett&osullivan_2013;
CFP_SR00500_mccarthy_2013;
CFP_SR00505_healy_2013;
CFP_SR00506_gleeson_2013;
CFP_SR00507_miller_2013;
Published Material:
If the Wall Could Talk: Stories Of Cork's Heritage (2013) DVD
If the Stones Could Speak: More stories from Cork's heritage (2015) DVD
Source
Cork Folklore Project Audio Archive
Rights
Cork Folklore Project
Language
English
Type
Sound
Format
1 .wav File
Interviewee
Interviewer
Duration
18m 22s
Location
Blackrock Castle, Blackrock, Cork, Ireland
Original Format
.wav
Bit Rate/Frequency
24bit / 48kHz
Transcription
The following is a short extract from the interview transcript, copyright of the Cork Folklore Project. If you wish to access further archival material please contact CFP, folklorearchive@gmail.com
ROS Blackrock Castle was built between 1582 and 1604 and it was built on a limestone outcrop onto the river, because this is a really deep harbour, it’s a very short harbour in some ways because Cork City is about four kilometres up river and the harbour is about nine kilometres the other way so Cork was a booming trade town at the time and it was full of ships coming in with either passengers or trade and where you have a lot of trade you have a lot of people trying to rob that trade so they had pirate ships coming in a lot and the kids get really excited when they hear ‘pirates were coming to Cork’ but they, it was kind of a dangerous time for that kind of traffic to be coming in so they petitioned the crown for a castle, for defensive, for a defensive fort so Blackrock Castle was built on this part because it comes, it can have a little sort of little V that comes out and the harbour that comes along is really deep that’s why you get some really really big ships into the city but incredibly narrow so it was very very dangerous to drive it that’s why nowadays you stop in Cobh and you get a pilot onto your ship to drive it in for you so Blackrock Castle was put here so they could use it as a sort of a lighthouse to stop, to help the ships come in to not crash but also then to dissuade pirate ships coming in so that they might [phrase unintelligible]. So apparently the harbour is like full, full of shipwrecks if you went out scuba diving you’d find loads of things down there and we’ve got shipwrecks from about 1500, 1600 like loads of things though, I’ve no idea what’s down there, I’d be really fascinated to go see.
ROS Blackrock Castle was built between 1582 and 1604 and it was built on a limestone outcrop onto the river, because this is a really deep harbour, it’s a very short harbour in some ways because Cork City is about four kilometres up river and the harbour is about nine kilometres the other way so Cork was a booming trade town at the time and it was full of ships coming in with either passengers or trade and where you have a lot of trade you have a lot of people trying to rob that trade so they had pirate ships coming in a lot and the kids get really excited when they hear ‘pirates were coming to Cork’ but they, it was kind of a dangerous time for that kind of traffic to be coming in so they petitioned the crown for a castle, for defensive, for a defensive fort so Blackrock Castle was built on this part because it comes, it can have a little sort of little V that comes out and the harbour that comes along is really deep that’s why you get some really really big ships into the city but incredibly narrow so it was very very dangerous to drive it that’s why nowadays you stop in Cobh and you get a pilot onto your ship to drive it in for you so Blackrock Castle was put here so they could use it as a sort of a lighthouse to stop, to help the ships come in to not crash but also then to dissuade pirate ships coming in so that they might [phrase unintelligible]. So apparently the harbour is like full, full of shipwrecks if you went out scuba diving you’d find loads of things down there and we’ve got shipwrecks from about 1500, 1600 like loads of things though, I’ve no idea what’s down there, I’d be really fascinated to go see.
Citation
Cork Folklore Project, “Ria O’Sullivan: Blackrock Castle, Pirates, Observatory,,” accessed April 24, 2024, https://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/10.