Mallow

Mallow grew up guarding a ford on the Blackwater and is the administrative centre of north Cork. In September 1920 the IRA under Ernie O'Malley and Liam Lynch raided its barracks, and soldiers burned the town hall and creamery in reprisal. Its oddest story came in 1983, when a Mexican business jet made an emergency landing on the racecourse; a temporary runway was laid so it could leave five weeks later, and its captain, Rubén Ocaña, became a local celebrity.

Six standing stones at Beenalaght, south-west of the town, show prehistoric settlement, and the first Mallow Castle was built in 1185 on the orders of King John. On 16 September 1690, during the Williamite War, Danish cavalry reconnoitred Mallow and destroyed the bridge. A small detachment was then used as bait to draw out the Jacobite raparees under Patrick Sarsfield, who were routed with 300 dead, and some accounts claim only Sarsfield and five companions escaped. From the early 1860s until 1908 the town was the headquarters of the North Cork Rifles militia.

On 27 September 1920 Ernie O'Malley and Liam Lynch led the Cork No. 2 Brigade against the barracks, held by the 17th Lancers, capturing arms and ammunition and partly burning the building; a sergeant was killed. The next day soldiers from Buttevant and Fermoy burned premises on the main street, including the town hall and the creamery. In February 1921 the IRA killed the wife of an RIC captain in a failed attempt on his life near the station, and Black and Tans then killed three railway workers there, which led to industrial action by the railway union. On 18 April 1983 Captain Ocaña's jet landed at the racecourse; he said farewell in Irish on 23 May, and the story inspired the 2010 film The Runway.

Drawn from the History section of the Wikipedia article on Mallow ↗, rewritten here and adding nothing it does not say; licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

• Greenhill Ogham Stones · ogham stone · 6 km
• Beenalaght · tomb · 13 km
• Mallow Castle · castle · under 1 km
• Dromaneen Castle · castle · 6 km
• Blackwater Castle · castle · 13 km
• Kilcolman Castle · castle · 13 km
• Castlepook · castle · 15 km

Straight-line distances from the town centre, from each site's documented coordinates.

• The Blarney Stone · The goddess Clíodhna told Cormac MacCarthy to kiss a stone before he went to court, and he talked his way out of trouble. Another version puts it before Elizabeth I. The stone was built into the castle in 1446; the legend is first described in print in 1785, so the tradition is younger than the wall it sits in.

All of these are pinned on the Hidden Ireland map.