Castletownroche (Irish: Baile Chaisleáin an Róistigh)[2] is a townland, village, and civil parish in the barony of Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland.

The first historical record about Castletownroche is from the late 13th century when the Anglo-Norman family of de la Roche established a fortress here.

[3][4] Like many of the Anglo-Norman families that arrived as invaders, the Roches eventually became loyal to interests different from those of the English crown, allied with the Gaelic aristocracy, and came to be regarded as rebels.

[5] Shortly before Christmas 1942, as World War II was raging on continental Europe, a tall, well-built man in his early thirties appeared in Castletownroche, gave his name as Oskar Metzke, and said that he was a Czech who was discharged from the British Army as being medically unfit.

[6] He produced identification, but when searched by the Garda was found to possess a map with aerial views of the local countryside, a compass, a combined torch and fountain pen and a Luger pistol.

William Mannix, the son of that officer, wrote the following account: I was a very young boy at the time, but the story was often repeated to me by my father.

Seconds later Oskar Metzke was in convulsions, it was obvious that he had swallowed something lethal and my father, Garda Mannix, did his utmost to retrieve it from his mouth, but already the German was unconscious.

[6] Some days later, the funeral of Oskar Metzke took place to the old churchyard of St Mary's, situated on a hill overlooking the River Awbeg.

[9] Notable buildings in Castletownroche include Blackwater Castle and the ruins of Bridgetown Abbey, a 13th-century Augustinian monastery of the priors of St.