Pre-history Traces of ancient civilisation, including from the
Bronze Age, are to be found in the vicinity of Castlemartyr. This includes a group of
tumuli (or barrow mounds), including three examples in the
townland of Ballyvorisheen. There is also evidence of the early inhabitants' attempts to defend themselves and their livestock against marauders and the threat posed by wild animals. These defences were in the form of
ringforts (or
raths), which were circular earthworks used as dwellings and farmyards. Examples of these structures are to be found in the vicinity of the village.
Ballyoughtera Some of the earliest evidence for the existence of a town or "vill" in the vicinity of Castlemartyr is to be found in the
Pipe Roll of
Cloyne. This document lists all lands held by the feudal
Bishop of Cloyne and the valuations put on those lands. Ballyoughtera, now the site of a ruin and graveyard, had likely originally been a monastic settlement which under Norman influence and through their settlement became the focal point for a "ville" or feudal village. There had been two adjoining medieval parishes, Cahirultan and Ballyoughtera and both are known to have been in existence by 1300 at least, when Ballyoughtera was valued at 5 marks and Cahairultan at 3 marks. A reference dated 1364 records that "Richard Kerdyf holds the land of the whole Ville of Martyre". A ville implied a nearby mill where tenant farmers could grind their corn, and a castle, providing those tenants with protection. In this case the castle was Castlemartyr Castle, which was built (on the site of an earlier fortification) for
James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond after his appointment as
Seneschal of Imokilly in 1420. Another historian, Lewis, states that Ballyoughtera Church was built in 1549, only to be destroyed during the conflict of 1641–1642. There is evidence to suggest that the Church was already in ruins before 1641 (probably as early as 1615) and that it was built before 1539, with a Chancel being added on later, possibly to cope with an expanding population in and around the village.
The Fitzgeralds In the
Norman invasion of Ireland, the
FitzGerald dynasty (a Geraldine line) was granted lands in the
barony of
Imokilly. In 1575, the
Cambro-Norman castle that they built, then called the castle of Ballymartyr, was attacked by
Sir Henry Sidney, the Lord Deputy, who captured the castle. The Fitzgeralds of Imokilly were known to the local peasantry as the ("Dogs of Blood") due to the blood-thirsty disposition they displayed.
Demise of the Fitzgeralds During the
Desmond Rebellion, the Fitzgeralds fought against the forces of
Elizabeth I in the region. The Fitzgeralds, together with the other southern lords of the
Hiberno-Norman stock (who had become "more Irish than the Irish themselves"), formed the
Geraldine League to oppose the British attempts to force Protestantism on the Catholic populace and to rout the native chiefs and replace them with English landlords. In 1581, the
Earl of Ormond overran Imokilly; at Castlemartyr he captured the aged mother of the
seneschal, John FitzEdmund, and hung her from the wall of the castle. FitzEdmund eventually submitted to the Earl, but he did not recover his lands. Instead, the property shared the fate of other properties after the Desmond Rebellion. It was confiscated and included in the grant of land between
Lismore and Castlemartyr that were given to
Sir Walter Raleigh. FitzEdmund himself was arrested in 1585 and died in Dublin Castle in the following year. In 1602, Raleigh's lands around Castlemartyr were bought by Richard Boyle, the First Earl of Cork and ancestor to the
Earls of Shannon. By the early 17th century the FitzGeralds were a spent force. In the south-east corner of the old church in Ballyoughtera, the stone has a boar crest surrounded by triple incised circles and shallow cross carving which is also encircle. At the northern end of Ballyoughtera church ruin is the grave of another
Richard Boyle, 4th Earl of Shannon who died in 1868. This tomb bears the inscription, "A sorrowing wife placed this stone in memory of the best and most affectionate of husbands".
Earls of Shannon For the next two hundred years the history of Castlemartyr was closely linked with that branch of the Boyle family which have the title
Earl of Shannon. In 1676, the town was incorporated with a charter, with its corporation and
parliamentary representation in the control of the Boyle family. In 1689 it was a centre of Protestant resistance against the rule of
James II, but was swiftly defeated by
Irish Army forces under
Justin MacCarthy who also put down a
larger rising at Bandon. After Orrery's death in 1679, his title was passed on to his oldest son. Orrery's second son had four sons of his own, Roger,
Henry, Charles and William, and it was this Henry who became a member of the
Privy Council of Ireland,
Speaker of the Irish House of Commons,
Chancellor of the Exchequer and
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was elevated to the peerage in 1756 as Baron Castlemartyr, Viscount Boyle, Earl of Shannon. It was he who provided the land for the construction of a new church in the village (St. Anne's Church of Ireland) when an act of Parliament allowed for the dismantling of Ballyoughtera Church and the re-use of some of the stones on the new church. It was also
Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon, who was primarily responsible for the construction and expansion of Castlemartyr House.
Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Shannon received £15,000 in compensation when the borough was disenfranchised under the
Acts of Union 1800. Separately, on the evening of 27 November 1920, Liam Heffernan, from
Conna, was shot dead in the village. Heffernan was a member of "B" Company, First Battalion, First Cork Brigade (IRA), and employed as a chauffeur. The car he drove was sometimes used to convey officers of the local IRA Battalion. He and four members of the Fourth Battalion were in a car parked on Castlemartyr Main Street as the Battalion Vice Commandant was transacting some business nearby. Two passing RIC officers recognised Heffernan as he sat waiting in the car and, knowing him to be a member of the IRA, approached the car and began to question the occupants. Almost immediately, gunfire began. Although not confirmed, onlookers claimed that one of the RIC officers had shot at the occupants in the car without warning. On hearing the shots outside, the IRA officer rushed back and got into the car while shooting at the police officers. In the exchange of fire, one police officer was killed and the other was also hit. Though injured, Heffernan managed to start the car and drive it away. He swung the car sharply over the bridge and onto the Mogeely Road, but it had not gone far when it became obvious that Heffernan was dying. One of his companions took over the wheel, and they eventually reached Conna, where the local doctor pronounced Heffernan dead. An inscribed stone monument to his memory was unveiled in Castlemartyr on 23 May 1971, a short distance from the place he was shot.
Rolling Stones While on tour in Ireland in January 1965,
The Rolling Stones passed through the village on their way to play the Savoy Theatre in Cork. While Bill Wyman and
Charlie Watts took tea at Mrs Farrell's eating-house,
Mick Jagger,
Keith Richards, and
Brian Jones had a drink across the street at Barry's Bar. The documentary
Charlie Is My Darling depicts a brief sequence of these events. ==Today==