Groups audience:
St. John's was built in 1826, so any of the Peter Robinson families from this area would have probably seen the work in progress before they sailed to Ontario. Situated in Castlelands townland it is part of the old medieval settlement. If you drive here from the south you will arrive along a broad curving roadway which seems to mark the line of an older enclosure for these Castlelands. The adjacent castle, hidden now behind mature trees, was being refurbished in the early 19th century by its owner John Anderson, a self-made businessman originally from Dumfries in Scotland. As the rural farming families struggled to earn a livelihood in north Cork men like Anderson were making considerable fortunes in trade with North America. Anderson was well known Co. Cork as he was responsible for founding the town of Fermoy & building the barracks for the army there.
