Glanworth is situated in the heart of the lush  Blackwater Valley, which means that its only 2.8 miles from my house - a land of mountains, rivers,  castles and green fields, rich in heritage.
Glanworth was originally called the Golden Glen. In the 18^th Century three flour mills were situated by the River Funcheon. One survived and took on a new role as a woollen mill, where blankets and tweeds of superb quality were produced, still using the mill wheel as the source of power. The wheel ground to a halt in the middle of the 20^th Century, but has now found a new lease of life swishing   gently in the mill race of Glanworth Mill, Country Inn.

Illuminated by night, Glanworth Castle once controlled a strategic crossing point on the River Funcheon. Built by the Condons in the early 13th century, its first buildings included a rectangular great tower 12.8 X 11 meters. The castle soon passed to another Norman family, the Roches, after the castle was besieged by rivals for the hand in marriage of the reluctant Amy Fleming. It was from this rock that the Roches controlled their holdings in North Cork and gradually the ancient fort was  transformed into a substantial defensive castle.

There are old stories of rival farmers who spent many an hour on the centre of Glanworth Bridge,  both refusing to give way. A mid-15th century structure, it is indeed the narrowest if not the oldest public bridge in every day use in Europe. The stone repair works on the third arch from the right resulted from an attempt to blow the bridge during the 1922 War of Independence. Thankfully, only the primer went off.

Labbacallee Megalith was constructed almost 5,000 years ago  during the early Bronze Age, this wedge shaped gallery grave is considered to be the finest of its type in the Country. Excavations in 1934 bore out the veracity of folk memory when the main burial chamber was found to be that of a woman. The name Labbacallee means ''the old woman's grave''. The grave consists of three massive capstones supported by sloping rows of stone pillars and in its original condition, the whole structure would have covered by rubble and earth. The immensity of the stones used all of those millenniums ago is remarkable and indeed have been a source of wonder and legend ever since.

Nuzzled in-between Glanworth and Mitchelstown is the quaint village of Ballindangan. It is perhaps the only   village in Ireland without a pub, which as seasoned   visitors to Irish villages and towns will tell you, is very strange, if not plain weird !!

On the 'main' road from Glanworth to Mitchelstown you would find it hard to miss the above traditional tatched farm house. It is an amazing example to the capabilities of old-age building techniques to withstand the test of time. Almost like a gateway to the past, it signals the beginning of Ballindangan village, and is lived in to this very day by perhaps the most prominent figure of the area, Maura. More so, many poems have been written not of the house, but of the stone at the corner. Below is an excerpt from such a poem :

The Fermoy/Mitchelstown Railway opened on 23^rd March 1891. The railway was an economic boost to both town and all stops along the line. The engines were 23 tons in weight, which were of great power for their time. The line was altogether worked by the   officials of the Great Southern & Western  Company, and a number of old servants were appointed to take charge of the level crossings of which there was about 12 on the line. One passenger train ran each day completing the full route. The line was remarkable for being the first in Ireland worked under Preece's electric staff and on the wire block system. Passenger traffic was always vibrant.

It was not all good times though. During the War of Independence the British Government took over control of the railways, thus making them targets for attack by the IRA In May 1921, a train was held up in Ballindangan and coal supplies for the "enemy" were destroyed. This was a critical blow to the British at a time when coal was in short supply because of a miner's strike in Britain.
The last train serviced Mitchelstown Fair was in November 1953. Yet the evidence remains along the countryside of Ballindangan where we can see embankments, cuttings, fencing, gates, and a few gatekeepers houses to remind us of a time which was unique to the lives of the country people.