Dundaniel detail

I managed to get in a very nice stroll today along the north bank of the Bandon river near Innishannon. I have travelled the road between Bandon and Innishannon countless times and often wonder as I pass by about the people who built and lived in the castle just on the other side of the river.
It's known and Dundaniel Castle and was built in the 15th Cent. It must have been an awesome building in its day. 
Probably its greatest claim to fame is that it hosted the Irish Earls from the north (O'Neill and O'Donnell) who had marched to the south to link with the Spanish armada in Kinsale in 1601. The night before they marched to Kinsale, over 8,000 men camped on the north bank of the Bandon river while O'Neill and O'Donnell spent the night in this castle.
The castle has long since fallen to ruin — though the Lawrence Collection photo of it (probably taken in the late 1800s) shows a substantial portion still standing.
No one is minding it now and it left to be supported by the ivy but that may not hold for much longer.
I couldn't help but admire the detailed work of the stone masons who even in centuries gone managed to build very straight lines with hand-cut stone.