Start at the Grotto at the Fermoy end of Castletownroche, and walk over the bridge to the village. The mill is a perfect setting on your left and a nice beginning for the walk through the village. Turn left at the Rockforest Bar and pass by the gates of Blackwater Castle.

Castle Widenham was the seat of the Roches from the 1300's to the mid 1650's when they were dispossessed, having been defeated by Cromwell's right hand man in Ireland, Lord Broghill, Roger Boyle. The Roches were the descendants of Richard Fitzgodebert of Pembrokeshire who came to Ireland with Strongbow in the 12th century. Fitzgodebert Castle in Pembrokeshire was built on a rock and thus was known as Fitzgodebert de la Roche which in Ireland eventually became Roche.

The Lords Roche were also given the title of 'Viscount of Fermoy' and were loyal to the crown. In 1649, in the absence of her husband, Lady Ellen Roche unsuccessfully defended the Castle against the Cromwellians and was hanged in Cork in 1652.

Thus ended the powerful era of the Roche clan. The Castle and the estate were granted to Col. John Widenham, a loyal Cromwellian soldier in the 1650's, and it was renamed Castle Widenham at that time.

It passed down through the generations, to Widenham-Creaghs and then to the Smith family through marriage. The Widenham family rebuilt the Castle retaining the old tower and keep as an annex of the new building.

During the years 1989 to 1991 it became known as the Blackwater Hotel. When that closed it was purchased privately by a German business man.

Continue past the gates of the castle for 1.5km and you will come to a cross-roads from which there is a magnificent view of Kilcummer Viaduct which spans the Awbeg and is a reminder of the railway from Rosslare to Mallow. Continue straight through the cross-roads for a further 1.5km until you reach the junction for Bridgetown Priory.

From here there is a wonderful view of the Nagle Mountains and Cairn. Turn left and visit Bridgetown Priory which is in the course of renovation at the present time (1998).

The Augustinian Priory of St. Mary at Bridgetown was founded between 1202 and 1216 for a community of Augustinian Canons regular by Alexander FitzHugh, possibly a member of the Barry family.

The first Canons at Bridgetown came from two of the wealthiest Anglo-Norman monasteries in Ireland. The priory of St. Peter and Paul at Newtown in Trim, Co. Meath and the Abbey of St. Thomas the Martyr in Dublin.

The Priory prospered throughout the 13th century and in the Papal Taxation of 1306 its value was in excess of £40. In sharp contrast in the 14th century there was a period of warfare and subsequent economic decline.

The remains at Bridgetown are substantially of the 13th century, and are among the most extensive of any religious house established in Ireland during that period.

Looking south from the Abbey, one sees the Blackwater Valley and the Nagle Mountains.

Looking east one sees the Awbeg River and a magnificent view of the old railway viaduct.

One can return directly to Castletownroche, a distance of 3km, or turn right at the cross-roads towards Kilcummer Bridge which crosses the Awbeg. First, pause and admire the river as it meanders towards the Blackwater, under the Kilcummer Viaduct.

Do not cross the bridge, but instead turn left and head north along the west bank of the river towards Castletownroche underneath Blackwater Castle and the Old Mill to end at the grotto.