Parke's Castle

Robert Parke, an English settler granted land in Leitrim after the Nine Years War, built this house in the 1620s on the site of an O'Rourke tower house he demolished for the stone. The O'Rourke connection is the harder history here: Brian O'Rourke had sheltered Francesco de Cuellar, a survivor of the Armada wrecks on the Sligo coast in 1588, and was executed at Tyburn in 1591 partly for it. What stands is a bawn - a defended courtyard with a three-storey manor house built into one wall, corner towers and a gatehouse - restored in the 1970s and 80s using Irish oak and traditional methods, which makes it one of the better-presented buildings of its period. Inside are the excavated foundations of the earlier O'Rourke tower, a sweat house, and a reconstructed forge. It stands directly on the lake shore and boat trips to the Innisfree area leave from here.

History

The castle stands on the site of a 16th-century O'Rourke tower house at Baile Nua, Newtowne, first mentioned in the Annals of Lough Cé in 1546. The English Crown confiscated the tower house and bawn after the execution of its last owner, Brian O'Rourke, and the site was then leased and rebuilt as the present manor house (Wikipedia, Parke's Castle).

What's there

• The bawn and manor - a defended courtyard house of the 1620s.
• The O'Rourke foundations - the earlier tower's base, excavated inside.
• The restoration - Irish oak and traditional methods, from the 1970s and 80s.
• The lake setting - directly on the northern shore of Lough Gill.

When to go

April to September; the site closes for winter. Boat trips on Lough Gill leave from the castle in season and are weather-dependent.

What to expect

Seasonal opening only. Much of what stands is 1980s restoration rather than original fabric, honestly presented as such. It is small - an hour covers it.

Nearby

Dromahair is east; Sligo town and Lough Gill's southern shore are west.

Key facts