One of the country's finest tower houses dating from the 16th century is to reopen to the public this weekend following extensive renovation and restoration works by the Office of Public Works (OPW).
Barryscourt Castle in east Cork was once the seat of the Barry family, who arrived in Ireland during the Norman invasion of 1172.
Its one of five major OPW Nature Conservation Projects set to reopen in the coming year.
The castle, which dates from 1552, has been extensively restored and visitors will now be able to view the main hall and great hall, as well as the dungeon, master bedroom, kitchen, and the chapel.
The chapel is said to be one of only two such churches in the country and bears Ogham domestic graffiti believed to be from the 16th century.
The castle is complete with an outer defensive wall or bawn, and largely intact corner towers within which is the herb and knot garden and the orchard, which have also been restored.
The work to the four-storey castle has been described as "technically challenging" given the problems with water ingress.
It is estimated that over 20km of repointing was carried out as part of the project.
The great hall is also a maternity site for bats.
The castle first under went restoration work in the 1990s under Dúchas, The Heritage Service, which saw its vaulted roof restored, but water ingress led to dampness and flooding issues within the building.
These combined with electrical faults forced its closure to the public in 2016 when a decision was taken to carry out the restoration and renovation work.
This afternoon, Taoiseach Micheál Martin joined Minister Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, who has responsibility for the Office of Public Works, to officially reopen the castle, which has been a work of love for the skilled craftspeople from the OPW's District Works in Mallow.
