Castletownroche is a townland, village, and civil parish in the barony of Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland. It is located on the N72 national secondary road. In ancient times, it was known in Irish as Dún Chruadha, meaning Cruadha's Fort. Castletownroche is located on the River Awbeg in the Blackwater Valley about eight miles (13 km) from Mallow. Castletownroche is within the Cork East Dáil constituency.

Operation Osprey was a plan conceived by the German Foreign Ministry and Abwehr II. mid-1942. The plan was an enlargement of Operation Whale. Planning took place in the context of American troops landing in Northern Ireland 26 January 1942, and Hitler's immediate fears surrounding this.