1Ashe, John. Annascaul: Revisited and Reviewed. Melbourne: St. Finbar's Presbytery, 1949. 35
"Minard Castle," by Ted O'Donnell:

There's a Castle below by the waters,
Where the wild waves they croon all the day,
And their song is of sorrow and laughter
As they kiss the brown rocks of the Bay.
And my thoughts fly away o'er the long years,
O'er the years to a far yesterday,
And I picture an old-world glory
Where the walls now are broken and grey.

From the Castle the sweet notes are stealing
Of music far over the Bay.
The harpers are softly beguiling
Dull care and dull sorrow away.
The soldiers within they make merry
And they drink to the long, long ago,
The toast is 'The Kingdom of Kerry'
'Benburb' and 'The Gallant Owen Roe.'

But a black shadow fell on the water
On the summer that Cromwell came o'er
When the gay songs of music and laughter
Would throb in the breeze never more.
Long they fought 'gainst the might of the Saxon,
'Gainst the musket and dread cannon-ball.
They fell 'neath the flag of the country
And they sleep near the old Castle wall.

And now there is left of its glory
The walls and an old-world air, --
The old folk will tell you the story
Of sieges and battles that were, --
And they say when the great storms are breaking
And the winds blow in from the sea
You can hear mid the roar of the tempest
The voice of a lost chivalry.

2Tanner, Michael. Troubled Epic: On Location with Ryan's Daughter. Wilton, Cork: Collins, 2007. 153.
Ryan's Daughter. Dir. David Lean. By Robert Bolt. Perf. Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Sara Miles, Christopher Jones. MGM, 1970.
In the brief video clip included, Rosy Ryan (Sara Miles), a married but frustrated Irish woman, will consummate her infatuation with the brooding British army officer Randolph Doryan (Christopher Jones) after their silent meeting at "the Tower" (Minard Castle).
Click here for a VR panorama of Coumeenole Bay, one of the locations most used in the making of the film.

3Kenny, Niall. "Dingle's Minard Beach." Archaeology Ireland 20.4 (2006): 16-20.
From the article: "The stones that are still being rolled on the beach today are freshly pink, devoid of lichen growth, and are quite dark in appearance because they are wet. This is how such ogham stones would have looked when they were first procured from the beach, and makes one wonder whether the shape, colour and texture of the stones might have been important factors in the choice of material to be inscribed. The use of the water-rolled pulvinar stones from Minard Beach as ogham monuments at various locales in the surrounding area suggests possible links between different places in the early historic landscape. We can begin to see how people sourced this particular material, the places they brought it to and the contexts in which they erected and used such stones...Identity Ogham stones are culturally fixed and enduring points in the landscape. They were almost certainly intended as permanent markers of place that would fix in the soil a part of the identity of those who erected them. This identity would have been evident in the inscriptions through the use of an individual, family or group name. Considering that most people at this time would not have been literate, however, we can say with confidence that this identity would also have been bound up with, and in some ways more potently expressed in, the type, colour, shape and material properties of the actual stone upon which the ogham was inscribed."
More information and an example may be found here. Others sites in Voices from the Dawn feature ogham inscriptions, including the Kilmalkedar and the Ballycrovane stones.

4Hitchcock, Richard. "The Castles of Corkaguiny, County of Kerry. No. II." Proceedings and Transactions of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society 3.2 (1855): 388-92.
From the author's description: "We now come to the interior of the castle. At the southeast corner there is about half, up to the top, of the circular inside of a turret in the thickness of the wall, in which a spiral staircase appears to have existed, the ends or places for two flights of the steps being still visible. Besides two windows looking from this interior…it has also the remains of a circular-headed doorway leading to the interior of the castle, and, over this, another perfect circular-headed doorway looking west. A space appears to have been walled off from the interior of the castle at the east side, but…this side is unfortunately the most ruined. Remains, however, of two arched ceilings, and other accommodations, may still be seen in this part. The three windows next the ground at the south, west, and north sides have, at the inside, the form of large fire-places, each 5 feet 8 inches in breadth. One of the arch stones of the west recess has rudely carved on it the form of a human face; but it is probably a modern production. Similar recesses are at the insides of the two windows over these in the west and north sides, and another recess is at the inside of the centre window in the south side. This side of the castle, like the east, is walled off from the interior, and between the two walls are several small apartments, inaccessible, however, to me. Over the centre window in the south side, just mentioned, is a doorway leading into some of these chambers, and it was probably into them that one of the circular-headed doorways at the south-east comer of the castle also led…Portions of two arched ceilings are to be seen in the castle…From the west wall, beneath the first or lowest arch, two stones, like corbels, project; but they do not seem to have been used for this purpose. The corresponding holes in the north and south walls, or similar projecting stones in the opposite east wall, do not appear; but the latter may have been pulled away…Above the first ceiling at this side are the remains of a fire-place, still exhibiting some traces of ornament."
A comprehensive description and a plan of the castle may be found in Cuppage, Judith. Archaeological Survey of the Dingle Peninsula: a Description of the Field Antiquities of the Barony of Corca Dhuibhne from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th Century A.D. Ballyferriter: Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne, 1986. 375-78.

5"Irish Confederate Wars." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Confederate_Wars>.
"The conflict in Ireland essentially pitted the native Irish Catholics against English and Scottish Protestant colonists and their supporters. It was both a religious and ethnic conflict – fought over who would govern Ireland, whether it would be governed from England, which ethnic and religious group would own most of the land and which religion would predominate in the country."

6Ashe 32.

7MacDonogh, Steve. The Dingle Peninsula. Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland: Brandon, 2000. 60-62.
The author states that Lewis, in his Topographical Dictionary (1837), claims that the fortification on the eastern cliff was built specifically for the bombardment of the castle.
Ashe (ibid) notes that the cannons on the cliff were augmented by those of British naval forces in the bay.

8Hussey, Samuel Murray. The Reminiscences of an Irish Land Agent: Being Those of S.M. Hussey. London: Duckworth, 1904. 4-5.
This book may be read in its entirety here.

9Fisher, Mary Jane Leadbeater. Letters from the Kingdom of Kerry, in the Year 1845. Dublin: Webb and Chapman, Great Brunswick St., 1847. 76-78.
In the author's interview with the customs agent, he goes on to remark on the shell-heaps found around the castle ruins: "...he believed the people in those times lived very much upon 'bornocks, 'Anglice,' 'limpets,' for they had found wagon loads of these shells in one corner, under the rubbish of stones and mortar. Poor feeding for such giants! Perhaps the castle was besieged, that the defenders had only those shell-fish for food, and that, while they lasted, they held out against the foe till grim hunger carried the day..."
This book may be read in its entirety here.

10Ashe 33.

11Williams, John. "Removing Stones from a Fort." Personal interview. 22 June 1979.

12Ashe 33.
A photograph of the foundations of the Church of St. Mary may be seen here.

13Ó Danachair, Caoimhín. "The Holy Wells of Corkaguiney." The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 90.1 (1960): 76.
MacDonough (op cit) explains: "In the past the pattern was an occasion of great entertainment as well as devotion. Penny stalls were set up on the level triangle of grass near by, and at the top of the slip beside the coastguards' boathouse there was music and dancing into the night. But the authority of the church was brought to bear and the pattern was suppressed in all but its devotional aspect; even that, with its evidently pagan origins, was looked on with no great favour. A particular association of the well which has contributed to the long survival of religious observance here is the legend connecting St John the Baptist with the Corea Dhuibhne people. This legend asserted that John the Baptist was beheaded by an Irish druid called Mogh Roith (the Slave of the Wheel) from Valentia Island on the other side of Dingle Bay, and prophesied that the Irish people - and especially the Corea Dhuibhne - would be called upon to pay for the crime at a date when certain time divisions coincided. In 1096 it was thought that the appointed time was approaching, and Ireland was seized with a panic, similar to the millenialist hysteria that had gripped many in Europe a century before. Rigorous fasting and prayer were undertaken, and it is probably from this date that the well derived its importance, along with many others dedicated to St John the Baptist."

14Tanner 192.

15Fisher 76-77.