PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Parke's Castle
Parke's Castle
Caisleán Parke, Caisleán Uí Ruairc
	Parke's castle courtyard, showing the foundations of O'Rourke's castle in the foreground.
Former names	Baile Nua, Newtowne
General information
Architectural style	Plantation Castle, Manor House
Location	Leitrim, Ireland
Address	Kilmore, Leitrim, Ireland
Country	Ireland
Owner	Office of Public Works

Parke's Castle, also known as Newtowne Castle,^[1] is a 17th century manor house. It is semi-fortified and is situated on the shores of Lough Gill, in County Leitrim, Ireland. The castle is built on the site of an earlier, 16th century O'Rourke (Uí Ruairc) tower house. The castle and bawn had been purchased by Captain Robert Parke in the 1630s.^[2] He had been granted some of the former O'Rourke lands as part of the Plantations.

Archaeological excavations, directed by Claire Foley and Queen's University Belfast, were undertaken at the site between 1971 and 1975. The excavations revealed the foundations of the O'Rourke (Uí Ruairc) tower house and various other structures within the bawn. Over a thousand objects and faunal remains from the 16th and 17th century were recovered. The excavation also yielded various objects from the 19th century, indicating reuse of the site.^[2] In fact, the bawn had been used as a farmyard and stables by local residents during the 19th century.

The site was restored between 1980 and 1988, and the site has been open to the public as a visitor centre, on a seasonal basis, since 1990.^[3]

History

O'Rourke's Tower House

The Annals of Lough Cé first mention O'Rourke's tower house at Baile Nua (New Town or Newtown) in 1546, when "great treachery was practiced by the sons of Alexander MacCabe against O'Ruairc in his own Town i.e. Baile Nua, his castle in the Barony of Drumahaire".^[4] A roughly circular rock-cut ditch with an opening to the east is probably the oldest feature of the site, and may predate the tower house by some time. The material excavated from the moat provided limestone to build a pentagonal bawn wall within the enclosure. More building materials for both Duroy Castle and Newtown Castle would have been quarried in Cartron Glen close by. The tower house probably dates from 1450 to 1500, and was one of several residences belonging to the ruler of West Breifne, Sir Brian O'Rourke.^[3]

During his rebellion against the Crown, O'Rourke damaged or "slighted" Newtown Castle in 1581 to make it unusable by the English. He also demolished his castles at Dromahair and Leitrim village at this time. O'Rourke was knighted in 1585, but continued to defy the Crown. Brian gave shelter to around eighty survivors of the Spanish Armada fleet, who had been shipwrecked at Streedagh beach in Sligo.^[5]

The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was then underway and the Spanish Armada landing in Ireland was perceived as a threat to England's security. Brian helping survivors of the Armada, therefore, was seen as treason by the English. The English Governor of Connacht, Richard Bingham, decided to attack O'Rourke in his castle at Newtowne. However, Brian managed to escape, travelling first to Doe Castle in County Donegal, where he remained for a year. He then travelled to the Kingdom of Scotland, where he attempted to raise an army of gallowglass soldiers to help him reclaim his kingdom. Brian O'Rourke was immediately arrested on the orders of King James VI, under pressure from his relative, Elizabeth I. O'Rourke was extradited to London, in what became the first case of extradition anywhere in Ireland or Britain. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for several months, which culminated in his trial. Brian was denied a lawyer during his trial, as well as the opportunity to examine the charges against him. He was found guilty of high treason. On the 3rd of November 1591, Brian O'Rourke was brought to Tyburn, where he was hanged, drawn and quartered.^[2]

Brian's son, Brian Óg O'Rourke, eventually inherited his father's title. He had a succession dispute with his brother Tadhg, who had sided with the English in order to garner military support for his succession claim. Brian Óg continued his father's struggle against the English and was involved in the Nine Years' War. Brian Óg's castle at Leitrim village was the destination for O'Sullivan Beare and his retinue, who marched from the Beara Peninsula following the Battle of Kinsale. O'Sullivan arrived with only thirty followers; nearly 1,000 of his kingdom's men, women and children had perished on the long journey north.^[6] However, little is known of any activities at Newtowne Castle during this period.

Robert Parke's Castle

The Plantation of Leitrim began in 1620, with 48 so-called 'undertakers' tasked with overseeing the establishment of new towns for English and Scottish settlers. These Plantation settlements were created on land which formerly belonged to Gaelic Irish nobility and had since been confiscated by the The English Crown. Large land grants were frequently made to favourite courtiers of James VI and I.^[7] The land at Newtowne was initially granted to Sir William Irving, a member of the Privy Council, who passed the property over to Sir John Spottiswood. Roger Jones, a well-connected businessman, brought his young nephews Robert and William Parke with him to Sligo in 1606.

It is unclear when exactly Robert Parke acquired the site of O'Rourke's castle at Newtowne. However, in 1628, he was granted a licence to hold a weekly market at Newtowne, as well as two fairs per year. By this stage, Robert Parke also had 1,000 acres of land mortgaged from Con O'Rourke.^[3] Around the same time, Robert's brother William Parke took possession of the O'Rourke castle at Dromahair. ^[7] The latter castle is locally known today as Villier's Castle and is in ruins.

The remains of O'Rourke's tower house at Newtowne were demolished after the English began to occupy the site. The gatehouse was constructed first, then two defensive towers in the northwest and northeast corners. The towers and gatehouse predate the manor house, which was built last and likely completed in the mid 1630s. A pair of smaller sentry towers and a sally port (water gate) were added to the southern wall. The bawn walls were reinforced, and crenellations and shot holes were added.^[1] The interior of the courtyard was paved over with cobblestone, which removed any traces of the earlier Gaelic castle.^[3]

Parke appears to have prospered at Newtowne. He benefitted hugely from the Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland and was granted thousands of acres in Sligo and Leitrim, following the Act of Settlement. Parke also participated in civic life and was High Sheriff of Leitrim on two occasions.^[2]

Parke employed Irish as well as English workers on his lands. He even employed a Gaelic harper called Dermond O'Farry.^[3]

1641 Rebellion

Robert Parke, who became MP for Roscommon in 1641, was considered to be a man of standing, importance and influence in the north Connaught region.^[3] However, he had a difficult time during the Rebellion which broke out in Ulster in the autumn of 1641, when he attempted to remain neutral and carry on as normal, hoping the uprising would soon be over.^[6]

Sir Fredrick Hamilton, a Scottish soldier and planter who had built his castle at Manorhamilton (Irish: Cluainín Uí Ruairc) in 1635, was outraged by Parke's behaviour and lack of vigour in suppressing the rebellion. Hamilton, who was keen to crush the remnants of the O'Rourke's, had been besieged on a number of occasions in his own castle. Observing that Parke seemed to be under no threat and indeed was possibly collaborating with the Irish, Hamilton burned the village at Newtown in the spring of 1642.^[3]

"A week or so after Easter, Sir Fredrick, with a party of horse and foot, burned some villages and killed a number of rebels two miles from Sligo town. He returned home via Newtown Castle and village, which he noticed had not been attacked at all by the insurgents. He was then informed that the rebels' cows had been allowed to graze right up to the bawn walls of the castle, without any interference by Robert Parke and his sixty-strong garrison, even while Manorhamilton was blockaded. Moreover, the Irish apparently passed freely by Parke's castle, with provisions from Sligo town, on their way to their camp at Cornastauk. So Hamilton decided there and then to burn Newtown village, which 'so long had relieved and sheltered the rogues', and to put some of the inhabitants to the sword. As for Parke himself, he would be made to answer for his collusion with the rebels on another occasion."^[7]

Hamilton returned to Parke's residence, arriving at midnight on 1 July 1642. When the reluctant Parke finally admitted Hamilton to the castle, he was ordered to assemble his garrison in the courtyard. Hamilton then arrested Parke in front of his own soldiers, and forced him and a contingent of the Newtown garrison to accompany Hamilton on a dawn raid on Sligo town. Hamilton boasted that 300 rebels were put to the sword and the town burned during the raid. Parke was taken to Manorhamilton where Hamilton kept him prisoner for 18 months in his castle, ignoring a number of directives from the government to release the MP. When a year-long truce was declared, Parke was eventually released while Hamilton was away in Derry.^[7] During the twenty-one months of the rebellion, at least 150 refugees were living at Parke's Castle (also known as Newtown Castle).^[3]

Parke's Castle (or Newtown Castle) was held by Parliamentarian forces, who surrendered the building to The 1st Marquess of Clanrickard on 10 July 1649. It is not clear whether Robert Parke was resident in Newtown Castle at that time. In May 1652, Irish Royalist forces attacked, looted and burned the castle in Manorhamilton, effectively destroying its use as a fortification. Parke's Castle, occupied by Irish Royalists led by Donough O'Hart, was surrendered to Confederate forces led by Charles Coote on 3 June 1652; it seems certain that from this time on Parke was back resident in his castle at Newtown.^[3]

Later History

The Family Room in Parke's Castle, showing models of Robert Parke, his wife Ann, and his two younger children, Robert and Maggie, who were drowned in Lough Gill in 1677. — The first floor of the Gatehouse in Parke's Castle, showing interpretive models of the Parke family in period dress.

Robert Parke was married to Ann Povey, who originally came from England and settled in Roscommon. They had three children; Ann, Robert and Mary. Robert Parke died in 1671 and the two younger children, Robert and Mary are not mentioned in his will, which suggests that they predeceased him.^[2] Local folklore says that they drowned in the nearby lake, however, there is no evidence for this story. Robert's wife Ann isn't mentioned again in historical record, so it is unclear what became of her. Robert and Ann's eldest daughter, also called Ann, was the couple's only surviving child. She married Sir Francis Gore from Lissadell House and soon after went to live with him in County Sligo.

The castle passed to the Gore family after Robert's death, but it was abandoned soon afterwards and fell into ruin. Whilst there are no records as to what exact year the family left the castle, it was depicted on a drawing by Sir Thomas Cocking from 1791. The illustration shows the castle as being in a ruinous state.^[2] The manor house was uninhabited for two centuries, while the bawn was used as a farmyard and stables by local people until the early 20th century.^[2]

The site was eventually purchased by the Irish Free State in 1935 and has remained in State care ever since.

Restoration & Layout

In the early 1970s, the archaeological excavations of the site commenced. The base of the original O'Rourke tower house was revealed beneath the cobblestones. The site was excavated over four seasons, revealing the foundations of a number of buildings within the bawn walls, a well and the enclosing rock-cut ditch.^[3]

The refurbished Banquet Hall in Parke's Castle. The floors and ceilings were restored with native Irish oak using 17th century carpentry techniques.

The castle was restored using traditional woodworking techniques and was undertaken by the Office of Public Works.

A local carpenter built the timber spiral staircase. The roof was reconstructed utilising the mortise and tenon technique.

The walls of the original bawn were a spacious pentagonal defensive area, with the O'Rourke tower house placed in the centre of the courtyard. The stones of O’Rourke's tower were used to build the two-storey manor on the eastern side, eventually adorned with mullioned windows and diamond-shaped chimneys. One of two round flankers guarding the north side of the bawn forms one end of the manor. The other end has the gate building with an arched entrance leading into the enclosure. Inside the courtyard are many stone work buildings and a covered well. There is also a postern gate and a sally port.

Location and access

Parke's Castle is located 7 kilometres (5 miles) north-west of Dromahair on the Sligo road (R286) and 11 km (7 miles) from Sligo. The restored castle is managed by the OPW, and is open to the public on a seasonal basis. The castle is open from late March to November in 2021. An admission fee is charged to visit, and guided tours are available.^[8]

Five hundred meters south-east of Parke's Castle lie the remains of Castle Duroy (from the Irish Dubhshraith), another former stronghold of the Ó Ruairc clan. The ruins of Castle Duroy sit on a small peninsula which juts out into Lough Gill. Very little of this castle now remains above ground.^[1] The site of Castle Duroy is on the northern shore of Lough Gill, just off the main Sligo to Dromahair road (the R286).

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Tom Condit, Gabriel Cooney, Claire Foley and Colm Donnelly, Archaeology Ireland Heritage Guide No. 62: Parke's Castle, Co. Leitrim, p. 1–2. Archaeology Ireland, Dublin, 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Foley, C.; Donnelly, C. (2012). Parke’s Castle, Co. Leitrim: archaeology, history and architecture. (Archaeological monograph series; 7). Vol. 7. Dublin: The Stationery Office. pp. 11, 16, 17, 22, 56, 97-100.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Foley, Claire (2012). Parke’s Castle, Co. Leitrim: archaeology, history and architecture. Wordwell. ISBN 9781406427141.
^ Ui Ruairc, Dúnta (1994). O'Rourke Strongholds of West Breifne. The Sligo Champion.
^ Kelly, Francis (2020). Captain Francisco de Cuéllar: The Armada, Ireland, and the Wars of the Spanish Monarchy, 1578–1606. Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-1-84682-875-1.
^ ^a ^b Weir, Mary (2009). Breifne. THP Ireland. ISBN 9781845889630.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Rooney, Dominc (2013). The Life and Times of Sir Frederick Hamilton. Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-1846823961.
^ "Parke's Castle". Heritage Ireland. Retrieved 12 October 2016.