This fortress is situated in the Barony of Duhallow, four miles and a half east-south-east of Kanturk, County Cork.

The name was sometimes spelt Loghort, and means literally “herb-plot” or “garden,” from luibh, “herb,” and gort, “an enclosed field.”

The central tower is circular, and measures about 80 feet in height. It was strongly machicolated, and had only a few apertures for light and air. The walls are about 10 feet thick at the base, diminishing to 6 feet.

The castle was formerly surrounded by a moat, which was crossed by a drawbridge, but this has been removed.

Richard Sainthill, writing in 1831, describes the castle thus:—

“Six miles from Liscarroll is Loghort Castle, the residence of Lord Arden when he visits his Irish estates. It is a square keep about 90 feet in height. The ground floor is now the kitchen. The first floor was the armoury, and contained arms for 100 soldiers, which were removed and lost in the year 1798. This is now the dining-parlour; above this is the drawing-room. We then rise to the state bedroom, beside which there are six others. From the battlements an extensive prospect is commanded.”

The castle also contained a good library. In the armoury was preserved the sword of Sir Alex. MacDonald, who commanded the Highlanders at the battle of Knockninoss in 1647, and was treacherously killed by a soldier after the encounter.

The fortress dates from the reign of King John, and was a former stronghold of the MacCarthys.

In 1641 Sir Philip Perceval garrisoned it with a hundred and fifty men during the rebellion. Nevertheless the Irish gained possession of the stronghold by treachery, and held it until May, 1650, when Sir Hardress Waller reduced it with a battery of cannon.

In his letter to the Parliament he writes of it as a place of great strength.

After this it seems to have remained in a state of dilapidation until the middle of the eighteenth century, when Sir Philip Perceval’s descendant, the Earl of Egmont, put it into a state of repair.

The agents of the estate resided in the castle during many years of the last century, and it is now the residence of Sir Timothy O’Brien, Bart.

There are many legends relating to the old fortress.