Blackrock Castle is a fortified settlement located on the banks of the River Lee. Originally a defensive fortification to protect the harbor and harbor of Upper Cork, it now houses an observatory, interactive astronomy center and restaurant. Exhibitions include "tour of the universe" and a radio telescope that allows sending messages into space. The castle also houses laboratories where astronomers from the Cork Institute of Technology work.
At the end of the 16th century, the people of Cork appealed to Queen Elizabeth I to build a fort at Blackrock to protect them from pirates. The earliest element of the building at that time, remaining to this day, is a round tower on the river bank, 10.5 m in diameter and 2.2 m thick walls.
The castle was destroyed by a fire in 1827. During the reconstruction, three floors were added to the original tower and the outer buildings were rebuilt. The neo-Gothic complex of buildings around the courtyard, which was created at that time, has survived to the present day without major changes.
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