CASTLE Balfour, formerly Castle Skeagh, was granted by King James I in the Plantation of Ulster to a Scottish Planter, a Lord Michael Balfour of Fife, Scotland in around 1610. As Lord ‘Michael’ Balfour had little inclination in settling in Fermanagh and completing the settlement requirements of such a grant, ie build a church, castle, […]
Portora Castle which fell at the hands of school boys
PORTORA Castle situated on the south bank of the River Erne along ‘the narrows’, fell at the hands of Portora school boys playing with home-made explosives in 1859. The castle guards a former crossing point where the river joins Lough Erne. Before the modern barrage was built it commanded a natural ford, a historic crossing […]
Stories from the stones…The history of Monea Castle
THE finest of Fermanagh’s plantation castles, Monea Castle is a wonderful display of the exuberant architectural style brought to Ulster by Scots from the western lowlands. Tall towers, Crow-step gables and projecting corner turrets are characteristic features, and the quality masonry at Monea shows the style to impressive effect. Built for Malcolm Hamilton, the castle […]
Stories from the stones..Horror history of Tully Castle
TULLY Castle nestled on the shores of Lower Lough Erne is the impressive remains of a fortified house and bawn built in the early 17th Century with a turbulent history. Located three miles north from Derrygonnelly, the castle was built by Sir John Hume between 1611 and 1613. Though its design owed much to Hume’s […]
Patient empathy as horror stories continue to emerge
LAST week the ‘Herald shared yet another story of a local patient’s horrific experience of having to travel from Fermanagh to Derry for emergency general surgery (EGS), just as this paper has been reporting for almost two years now since the suspension of EGS at the SWAH. As happens often, this story prompted significant empathy among […]