Macroom Castle, Co. Cork Macroom is dominated by castle walls and grounds with old stone, arches and guns providing an elegant centre for the town. It is thought that the castle was built in the reign of King John, on the site of an earlier stronghold. Its story reflects the trials and tribulations of Irish society over the centuries, passing from the hands of the Carew Clan to the McCarthys, when they became overlords in the region. In 1650 Bishop Boetius McEgan failed to hold it on behalf of the McCarthys against Cromwellian forces, and McEgan was taken prisoner and hanged at Carrigadrohid. The castle was given, as a reward, to William Penn (whose son founded the state of Pennsylvania) who lived there for some time, and then sold it to the Hollow Sword Blade Company. Similar to the East India Trading Company or the Hudson Bay Trading Company, they were a merchant company who made financial investments in colonial expansion. They eventually sold their interest in the castle to the Bernards of Castle Mahon in Bandon (future Earls of Bandon) who, in turn sold on to the Hedges family. In 1766 Jane Hedges Eyre married Simon White from Bantry House, and the strength of this alliance led to their son, Richard, becoming Earl of Bantry in 1816.