Charlemont Fort

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Charlemont Fort was a garrison built in Charlemont, County Armagh in 1602 by Lord Mountjoy. It was destroyed in 1920 by fire and the only building remaining today is the gatehouse. The name Charlemont came from Charles Blount's Christian name.

It was situated on the Armagh bank of the River Blackwater, it was armed with 150 men under the command of Sir Toby Caulfield, whose descendants took the name Charlemont from the place. The governor's house within the fort, which ceased to be a public building in the mid 19th Century, later became the home of the Charlemonts.

[edit] Destruction

On 30 July, 1920 a group of around forty armed men seized the for, which was being occupied by a caretaker, and burned it down. The ruins were sold in 1921 to a masonry contractor. In 1920 the family also lost their great house Roxborough Castle, Dungannon County Tyrone to the same fate.^[1]

[edit] References