Fire on N22 near 15th century landmark

At least three fire brigades attended a major fire near Macroom over the weekend which took more than six hours to extinguish.

The fire broke out on Sunday afternoon in approximately 10 acres of harvested forestry near the Carrigaphooca Castle, a 15th century defensive tower overlooking the river Sullane just off the Macroom bypass.

The Macroom Fire Brigade was called at 1.20pm on Sunday and was assisted by the Millstreet Fire Brigade, as well as a water tanker from Bandon Fire Station.

Firefighters used the nearby river as a water source to tackle the blaze which took until 8pm that evening to control and extinguish.

The cause of the fire has not been confirmed and it is not known if any property, including the castle itself, was damaged.

Motorists on the N22 Macroom bypass reported significant levels of smoke on the motorway as numerous emergency vehicles attended the scene.

Sunday’s emergency is the latest in a string of fires attributed to prolonged dry weather and heatwave conditions.

There are currently no weather or environmental warnings in place for Munster, with today, Thursday, expected to be cool and fresh with sunny spells and well scattered showers in the west, with a period of generally less settled weather expected nationwide.