Macroom Attractions

In the Square of Macroom town are a number of Georgian houses and the fine early 19th C. Market House. Also of note are the ruins of Macroom Castle (gutted by fire in 1922), with a massive gatehouse.

From Macroom the N22 leads northwest up the valley of the River Sullane, passing Carrigaphooca Castle (15th C.y; National Monument), to the pilgrimage center of Ballyvourney. Of the monastery founded by St Gobnat in the seventh century there remain a circular building with an inner diameter of 20ft/ 6m and walls 5ft/1.5m thick, a well and the Saint's grave.

The N22, the direct road from Macroom to Cork, runs southeast along the west side of Carrigadrohid Reservoir. In 12mi/20km a side road diverges on the right to Kilcrea, with the well-preserved remains of a Franciscan abbey (15th C; National Monument) in a beautiful setting on the banks of the River Bridge. The remains include the church, with a fine sacristy and a bell tower, and conventual buildings. There is also the keep of an old castle.

12mi/20km south of Macroom, past a hilly area on the R588 (reached by taking the N22 out of Macroom, a short way beyond the town the R584 to the right and then the R585 to the east), lies Kinneigh. Here, on the site of an early monastery, stands an unusual round tower (National Monument), 65ft/20m high, with the lower 18ft/5.5m hexagonal.

The R584, which goes west from the N22 just outside Macroom leads to Inchigeelagh, a holiday resort popular with fishermen and artists; it is picturesquely situated at the east end of Lough Allua, a long narrow lake well known for its white water lilies.