We are in the third and final year of the Ulster Scots Archaeological Project and this year we will be investigating Monea Castle in Co. Fermanagh. The castle is located
within the Castletown Demesne lands c.
860m east of Monea village and 9km WNW of Enniskillen. It stands at the bottom of a steep hill on a small
plateau above a lake which contains a crannóg (FER 191:062). Excavations in the
late 19th century found the crannóg, ancient site of the Maguires, to be
composed almost entirely of timber. Excavation on the shore of the
site revealed the remains of a conical iron helmet associated with animal bone
and iron slag. The surrounding landscape has been occupied since the prehistoric period, as indicated by c. 11 burnt mound sites and 8 raths or enclosures within a 1km radius of the castle.
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| Site Location - Monea Castle |
The castle comprises one of the best known and best preserved examples of a plantation era building. The lands of the proportion of Derrinefogher were granted to Robert
Hamilton by King James in 1610. Building commenced on the
castle (not the bawn) in 1616 by the Rector of Devenish, the Reverend Malcolm
Hamilton.
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| Monea Castle, facing north-east |
In 1619, the castle was described by Pynnar as "a strong castle of lime and monea castle
stone being 54 feet long and 20 feet broad". The castle is oblong in
plan and three storeys high. From the angle of the west end rise two
semi-cylindrical towers with box-like turrets, both of which have spiral
staircases. The bawn, comprising "a
wall 9 feet in height and 300 feet in circuit" was added in 1622/3. It was noted by Annesley and Perrott in 1622 that
the castle was thatched (SMR record). At
this time it is recorded that a market was held upon the Monday of each week,
in the ‘village of Castleton, in the proportion of Dirrefogher’ (Belmore 1895a, 207).
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| Plan of the castle (Jope, 1951) |
The castle was taken by the
Irish, led by Captain Rory Maguire, during the 1641 Rebellion but was later
reclaimed by planters. Following the hostile takeover of nearby Tully Castle all occupants were ordered to flee to Monea Castle or ‘Iniskellin’
(Belmore 1895b, 258). Monea does not appear to have been badly damaged at this
time.
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| Extract from the Down Survey Map of Magheraboy Barony showing Monea Castle |
By 1688 the castle became the
residence of Gustav Hamilton (grandson son of Malcolm Hamilton) who by then was the
Governor of Enniskillen and Fermanagh forces (Belmore 1895b, 260). Following 1704 Gustav’s eldest
son, William, appears to have sold/granted the Manor of Castletown to Hugh
Montgomery (of Derrygonnelly, Co. Fermanagh) and Robert King (of Lissenhall,
Swords). King appears
to have taken Castletown, (alias Monea), with the house and customs, together
with the fairs and markets (Belmore 1895b, 264).
King's share of the estate appears to have
descended to his daughter and heiress, Mary, who married William Smyth of the
Drumcree family in Westmeath. Smyth served as High Sheriff of Fermanagh in 1736
(ibid., 265). A record in the SMR
states that the castle was burnt in c.
1750.
Belmore (1895b) considered it is likely that
the estate changed hands from the Smyth to the Brien family. John Brien from
Tyrone built a house in the demesne after 1790 (SMR record) and ‘Monea Cottage’
is shown on the first edition OS map c.
400m north of the castle.
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| Extract from the First Edition 6-inch OS map showing Monea Castle |
A geophysical Survey has been undertaken within the grounds of the scheduled area and the results will be shared in a blog post next week. We hope to undertake a research excavation during May 2014 to investigate the early-mid 17th century tenants settlement associated with the plantation castle. Any updates will be posted here in future weeks.
References:
Belmore 1895a Monea Castle, County Fermanagh, and the
Hamiltons. Ulster Journal of Archaeology,
1 (3), 195–208.
Belmore 1895b Monea Castle, County Fermanagh,
and the Hamiltons. With Some Notes on the Hume and Cathcart Families
(concluded). Ulster Journal of
Archaeology, 1 (4), 256–277
Jope, E.M. 1951
Scottish Influences in the North of Ireland: Castles with Scottish Features,
1580-1640. Ulster Journal of Archaeology,
14, 31–47.
