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castle built by the notorious Sir William Hull. Black Castle is in the townland of Castlepoint, and its name neatly
distinguishes it from White Castle, AKA Ardintenant. Both were built by the O Mahonys.”

Mark Wycliffe Samuel’s 1998 thesis, The Tower Houses of West Cork, has some marvelous source material
regarding the Ivagha peninsula’s stone structures, including those attributed to the O Mahonys. Derived from
the Irish ‘Leim Con,’ Samuel suggests that the name, meaning Hound’s Leap, may refer to a legend about the
gully across which you must pass to get to the castle, which stands on an island separated from the mainland
by a narrow channel. At certain times of the year, the waters of the Atlantic flow through it. Erosion has nearly
severed the tip of the peninsula; only a precarious natural bridge, now reinforced with concrete, joins it to the
mainland. It can be noted that of the two O Mahony rallies held at Leamcon (1965 and 1975), the reinforced
bridge did not exist at the former. This author stands in awe of the 1965 attendees’ courage.

From our references, a quick review of the timeline and history of Leamcon Castle includes:

• Conor Cabaicc succeeded his father in 1427 and remained Taoiseach for 46 years, embarking on an ambitious
program of construction to provide castles for his sons and brothers. This included Black Castle, which he built for
his second son, Finín Caol (pronounced Fineen Kale), or Finín the Slender. This means that Black Castle was built in
the period before Conor Cabaicc (Conor the Talkative) died, in 1473. This accords well with its architectural details,
which place it among the fifteenth century ‘raised entry’ castles, similar to Ardintenant, Dunmanus and Dunlough.

• The castle was attacked by Sir George Carew’s forces after the Siege of Dunboy in 1602. According to Samuel,
on 13 July 1602 Carew reported that his lieutenant, Captain Roger Harvy, had taken several castles strongly
seated on rocks and necks of land. All were so “neere to the sea where ships may safely ride, and fit places for an
enemy to hold as, namely Leamcon, Donnegall” and others. The decision was taken to burn these tower houses.
Conor, the head of the sept, received quarter with his men and migrated to Spain immediately afterwards. He
was subsequently pardoned but seems never to have returned.

• Leamcon/Black Castle was spared from being burned and was subsequently reclaimed for a time by the O
Mahonys, although the clan forfeited all or most of their lands after the rebellions of the 1640s.

• Following the Battle of Kinsale, Leamcon passed into the ownership of Sir William Hull (c.1573–1643), a Devon-
born man appointed Vice-Admiral for Munster. Hull was tasked with dealing with piracy along the southwestern
coast of Ireland, but he became known as a friend and ally of the pirates rather than a foe.

• Hull had been active in the Ivagha area prior to moving there in 1601. Previously untouched by English influence,
the region had been depopulated by warfare during the nine years war; most of the Gaelic leaders were in
foreign exile while those that remained sought to mitigate their political exposure by associating with incoming
English settlers. The O Mahonys granted Hull a long-term lease of the tower house and surrounding territory at
Leamcon. He was sub-leasing the tower house by 1612, having built a fortified residence nearby. (See Dictionary
of Irish Biography reference below for additional information on Sir William Hull.)

• The castle was abandoned from at least the 1690s. Such was the state of it when the O’Mahony Reunion took
place here in 1965.

• Niall Hyde began restorations in the 1970s and made it his family holiday home. The castle overlooks the Bay,
and the outside appearance hasn’t changed much since then.
Finally, from an author-uncredited 1976 Journal article, the following in its entirety. Part of the history is
redundant, but the inclusion of the names of the officers and council as well as those who sent apologies may
be meaningful to some.

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