Monea castle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monea Castle is a castle in Monea, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is three storeys high with tall attics and has a rectangular plan with a pair of massive semi-cylindrical towers on the short west end. It is a State Care Historic Monument sited in the townland of Castletown Monea, in Fermanagh District Council area, at grid ref: H1647 4937.[1]
[edit] History
Building was started in 1616 by the Rector of Devenish, the Reverend Malcolm Hamilton. It had a bawn built later, in 1622, shortly before Hamilton was promoted to become Archbishop of Cashel in 1623.
In the Irish Rebellion of 1641 it was attacked by Rory Maguire, who "slew and murthered eight Protestants" here, but evidently failed to capture the castle. In 1688 it was occupied by Gustavus Hamilton, the Governor of Enniskillen, who died in 1691. His wife and children continued to live at Monea, but had to sell the estate in 1704. A few decades later the castle was gutted by fire and subsequently abandoned.
[edit] References
- ^ Monea Castle. Environment and Heritage Service NI - State Care Historic Monuments. Retrieved on 2007-12-03.
