Located in western County Cork, Ballinoroher Castle was built by 1601 by a subsept of the MacCarthys, Clan Crimeen. The name of the castle is translated from Béal Átha an Urchair meaning the mouth of the ford of the shot/bullet, suggesting a place of defense. Fitting as the castle was the “headquarters” for the clan. A second, smaller castle, Derryleamleary Castle, located about 10 miles to the north, also belonged to the clan.

The last clan owner of Ballinoroher was Dermot mac Daniel MacCarthy. His lands were forefit after the death of his English tenants:

After the arrival of the Cromwellians in Cork in 1652. His tenant Burrowes, an English sheep-farmer, put himself under Dermot’s protection, but Dermot eventually took the Burrowes family to the Irish encampment at Killavarrig Hill where they were hung, allegedly upon his orders. When examined by the Commissioners Dermot denied any direct involvement but believed that they deserved their fate because they had treacherously sent communications about Ballinoroher’s weakness to the Bandon planters.

Whether he had anything to do with the Burrowes death, it is clear that the English were looking for ways to sieze lands.

John is not listed in the 1659 Irish Census, but he is recorded as “Inrolled 25th February 1667.” He was definiately there by 1680 when he hosted a Quaker Meeting for two visiting Friends.

What became of John isn’t known. He attended the marriage of his daughter Martha to Thomas Knight in 1682, but the Quaker register records him as deceased when his other daughter, Hannah, married in 1692. It is currently unknown what happened to Ballinoroher Castle after that. It is believed that the castle was inhabited for a time before it was completely abandoned in the 19th century.

Some Allens were buried nearby at the Templequinlan graveyard. The headstones are mostly in disrepair so it is unknown which Allens were buried here.

Sources:
All URLs current as of posting date.
Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Vol. II  (London: Lewis and Co., 1837), p. 613, “Templequinlan”; digital file, Ask About Ireland (https://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/digital-book-collection/digital-books-by-subject/geography-of-ireland/lewis-a-topographical-dic/).
Mark Wycliff Samuel, The Tower Houses of West Cork (PhD. diss., University of London, 1998), 195; digital file, UCL Discovey  (https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1317856/1/287930_Vol_1.pdf ).
Ibid., The Tower Houses of West Cork: Appendice (PhD. diss., University of London, 1998), 595; digital file, UCL Discovey  (https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1317856/2/287930_Vol_2.pdf ).
“Ireland, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Browse,” FindMyPast (https://search.findmypast.com/search-world-records/ireland-society-of-friends-quaker-browse) > year = 1650, archive = Religious Society of Friends > Munster Family Lists 1650-1876 > image 21 >  Massey-Allen marriage, 21 April 1692; imaged from Munster Family lists 1650-1876, Munster vol. 39, Religious Society Of Friends In Ireland Archives, Dublin.
Ibid., FindMyPast (https://search.findmypast.com/record?id=IRE%2FQUAKER%2FQM11M-1%2F0014&parentid=IRE%2FQUAKER%2FQM11M-1%2F0014) > year = 1650, archive = Religious Society of Friends > Munster Family Lists 1650-1876 > image 15 >  Knight-Allen marriage, 3 October 1682; imaged from Munster Family lists 1650-1876, Munster vol. 39, Religious Society Of Friends In Ireland Archives, Dublin.
“Ireland, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Congregational Records,” FindMyPast (https://search.findmypast.com/record?id=IRE%2FQUAKER%2FYMC-3%2F0006&parentid=IRE%2FQUAKER%2FCONG%2F1136668), Cork Meeting Minutes, John Allen in entry for 4m 8 1680 (8 June); imaged from Abraham Abel, Catalogue of the Names of Friends in the Ministry Who Visited this Nation Since the Year 1655, Religious Society Of Friends In Ireland Archives, Dublin.
“Commissioners of Public Records in Ireland: fourteenth and fifteenth reports with appendix, 1824-25,” (London: His Majesty’s Stationary Office, 1825), 143; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/op1244157-1001/page/20/mode/2up).
Seamus Pender, Ed., “A Census of Ireland circa 1659” (Dublin: Stationary Office, 1939), 650 (no John Allen/Alin); digital copy, Irish Manuscripts Commission (https://www.irishmanuscripts.ie/product/a-census-of-ireland-circa-1659/).