Irish Castles, Counties Tyrone & Donegal
Irelandseye.com completes its tour of Irish castles, on the north-west coast, travelling first to County Tyrone.
County Tyrone
BENBURB CASTLE
The name Benburb, roughly translated as "proud peak", aptly describes the setting of this Plantation bawn, perched on the summit of a limestone cliff towering 200 feet above the River Blackwater. It was built in 1611-14 by Sir Richard Wingfield (later Viscount Powerscourt) who was granted 1,000 acres here from James I. An earlier castle on or close to the site was the "chief seat" of the celebrated Shane O'Neill, before it was burnt in 1566. The bawn occupies a large irregular quadrangular area enclosed by walls standing almost to full height and generously fitted with musketry loop-holes. No main house was built as Wingfield had no desire to live here, but living accommodation was provided in gabled rectangular flankers incorporated into corners of the bawn. One of these was occupied in 1622 by "Mr Moore, an Englishman, with his wife and family". In the south-east corner of the enclosure is a round stair turret giving access to a postern down the cliff, while the house on the south-west side was built in the late 18th century and remodelled in Victorian times. The castle was captured in 1641 by Phelim O'Neill, who had all the inmates put to death. In 1646 it was occupied by Owen Roe O'Neill before he defeated the English army at the battle of Benburb. It was dismantled soon afterwards and has remained a ruin ever since.Benburb town. NGR: H 814520.
CASTLE CAULFIELD
Sir Toby Caulfield, later Lord Charlemont, must have had a very strong desire to live like an English gentleman, for he was prepared to build an unfortified English-style mansion in an unsettled area of Ulster during the period 1611-19. Described by Pynnar in 1619 as "the fairest building in the north", it had three storeys in a U-shaped plan - the northwest wing of which has now disappeared. It had fireplaces in projecting breasts and massive chimney stacks capped with octagonal stone shafts, as well as flat-headed mullioned and transomed windows, most of which have been torn out. The gatehouse, with its vaulted passage and guard chambers, probably belong to an earlier O'Donnelly bawn on the site. During the 1641 Rebellion the house was burnt by Patrick "the Gloomy" O'Donnelly and some of the interior stonework still shows signs of scorching. In the 1660s the house was partially rehabilitated by the Caulfields, who were in residence in 1670 when Archbishop Oliver Plunket was permitted to use the courtyard for ordinations. It was probably disused by 1700 and was a ruin when John Wesley preached in front of the gates in 1767.Castlecaulfield village. NGR: H 755626.
HARRY AVERY'S CASTLE
A curiously enigmatic castle named after and possibly built by Henry Aimbreidh O'Neill, a Gaelic chief celebrated by the Four Masters for his justice, nobility and hospitality who died in 1392. The castle commands wide views over the Mourne Valley and is unusual in being a stone-built stronghold located deep in the heart of pre-Plantation Ulster. It consists of a two-storey rectangular block fronted by a pair of massive D-shaped towers - resembling a gatehouse - projecting from the south face of an artificially scarped knoll, whose sides have been revetted by a wall to form a polygonal enclosure, now ruined to a low level with traces of a latrine tower on the north side. Excavations in 1950 and 1962 confirmed that the keep-like structure functioned more as a tower house than as a true gatehouse, though the only access into the enclosure behind seems to have been up a narrow mural stair and through the hall at first-floor level. Other features include vaults with traces of wickercentring and latrine shafts in one of the towers. The castle was captured by the English in 1609. Subsequently, it was used as a quarry for building material. 1 km (0.6 mile) SW of Newtownstewart, 16 km (10 miles) SE of Strabane. NGR: H 323852.County Donegal
DONEGAL CASTLE
The site of Donegal Castle at the mouth of the River Eske was chief seat to the great clan O'Donnell; the original tower house is believed to have been built in 1474, but existing detail suggests a mid 16th-century date. In 1566 the castle was visited by Sir Henry Sidney, who described it as "...one of the greatest that I ever saw in Ireland in any Irishman's lands and would appear in good keeping one of the fairest". It was burnt in 1589, partly demolished in 1595 and remodelled after 1623. During the Williamite wars the castle was successfully defended against the Jacobite forces. It subsequently fell into decay during the 18th century.Donegal town.
CASTLEDOE
On a remote rocky promontory by the upper reaches of Sheephaven Bay, stands the grim four-storey tower house of Castledoe - one of the most fought-over and disputed castles in Ireland. It was built in the 1520s by MacSweeney Doe, head of a fiery and quarrelsome tributary sept of the O'Donnells, who were constantly engaged in internecine wars usually over possession of the castle, which was besieged and captured at least twenty times before being abandoned at the close of the 17th century. The halcyon years at Castledoe came during the chieftancy of Eoghan Og II MacSweeny, the foster-father of Red Hugh O'Donnell, who was famed for his hospitality, patronage of the bards and for harbouring shipwrecked sailors of the Spanish Armada. In 1596 the castle passed to Mulmurry MacSweeney Doe, an unsavoury tyrant who tried disobedient vassals in the castle's great hall; those of the condemned he wished to honour he brained with his club, while the less fortunate were strung up on meat hooks from the castle's parapets. It is said that in order to prevent the marriage of his daughter to Turlough Oge O'Boyle, the unfortunate man was cast into the dungeon and starved to death. The castle was in ruins by the 1790s, when it was repaired by General Vaughan Harte, and sold in 1864. It was occupied by tenants until the end of the century, but afterwards allowed to fall into ruin again.3 km (2 miles) NE of Creeslough on the coast. NGR: C 085318
GREENCASTLE (Northburgh)
At first glance the shattered remains of this castle resemble the magnificent Edwardian fortress at Caernarfon. Indeed, it may have been designed by the same person, though Greencastle - called Northburgh by the Normans - was not a royal castle but was built by the "Red" Earl of Ulster, Richard de Burgo, in 1305 to help subdue the O'Neills and O'Donnells and control the entry into Lough Foyle. The castle encompasses a lofty rock platform, whose cliffs afforded good protection on the seaward side. Like Caernarfon, it has an oblong plan with the gatehouse at one end and a large polygonal tower dominating the north-east corner. The three-storey gatehouse, which projects from the side of the rock platform, is the most impressive part of the castle and contained the main apartments. Once completed, the castle quickly became an important port of supply for the English armies in Scotland. Consequently, in 1316 Edward Bruce lost no time in capturing it after he had invaded Ireland. Two years later it reverted back to the Red Earl and later passed to his grandson, William, who was murdered in 1333 - an event that brought about the end of de Burgo power in Ireland. The murder was an act of revenge for the death of his cousin, Walter Burke, whom William had imprisoned at Northburgh the previous year and left to starve to death. It is said that William's sister, moved by Walter's fate, endeavoured to bring him food but was detected and thrown over the battlements to the rocky shore beneath. A small garrison was maintained here until the 17th century, when it was completely abandoned to the ivy, jackdaws and turf-scented salty air.E of Greencastle village on the Inishowen shore of Lough Foyle. NGR: C 653403.
from the Appletree Press title Irish Castles
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