Castle Salem, Medieval fortress in Rosscarbery, County Cork, Ireland

Castle Salem is a fortified house about a mile north-west of Rosscarbery, County Cork, built as Benduff Castle around 1470. It sits in a secluded valley between hills rather than on high ground. Its walls are 11 feet thick, with three internal arches, passages, recesses and a stone stairway; William Morris removed the top of the roughly 70-foot tower and added a slated roof.

Benduff Castle was almost certainly built around 1470 by Catherine Fitzgerald, daughter of Thomas, 7th Earl of Desmond, who married Finghin MacCarthy Reagh; the Annals of the Four Masters record her death in 1506. After the Cromwellian confiscations, Captain William Morris (about 1620–1680) received over 1,500 acres including the castle around 1660 and renamed it Castle Salem, formalised in the 1678 grant under the Act of Settlement. The Morris family held it until the early 1800s; the Daly family bought it in 1895.

The name Benduff comes from the Irish An Bhinn Dubh, "the black peak". Local legends tell of the "Black Lady", probably Catherine Fitzgerald, who is said to haunt the castle. William Morris, a Cromwellian captain, became a Quaker in 1656 and was dismissed from his command for his faith; he wrote the tract Tythes No Gospel Ordinance, printed in 1659.

Castle Salem is run by the Daly family, descendants of the 1895 buyers, as a guest house near Rosscarbery, about a mile north-west of the town. The house stands in a valley enclosed by hills rather than on high ground, so approach from the Rosscarbery side. Contact the house in advance about visiting, as it is a family-run guest house rather than a public monument.

Benduff Castle originally stood about 70 feet high until William Morris had the top removed and replaced with a slated roof, giving the house its present profile. Its walls are 11 feet thick, with internal passages, recesses and three internal arches. The Irish name Bhinn Dubh means "the Black Peak".