Parke’s
Castle
A beautifully
restored castle of the 17th century, Parkes Castle is a fortified manor
house with a stone bawne enclosure. The house itself forms one part
of the defensive walls which feature round turrets on 2 of the 5 sides.
Captain Robert Parke built the manor house on the grounds of a previous
stronghold of the O'Rourkes in 1609. Parkes castle rises 3 stories on
shores of Lough Gill and boasts wide mullioned windows and gabled roofs.
The interior of the castle has recently been restored using the old
methods of fine workmanship in Irish oak.
The courtyard
and the larger round tower castle (Castle of Newtowne) of the Parkes
site, dates back to the 1100's King of Bréifne, Tiernan O Rourke. Inside
the courtyard are many stone work buildings and a covered well.
Castle
of Newtowne, Leitrim - the grey hillridge
The Uí
Ruairc clan rule in area of Bréifne from about the 7th century up to
the time of Cromwell. They are descended from Sean Ferghal O Ruairc,
King of Connacht around 952.
In the
mid 1100's a great rivalry started between Tiernan O'Rourke, King of
Breifne, and Dermot MacMurrough Kavanagh, King of Leinster. Legend has
it that Devorgilla (wife of O'Rourke) began an affair with Dermot on
the shores of Lough Gill that was to last 2 years. In 1166 O'Connor
(the high king), O'Rourke, and the Ostmen of Dublin banded together
and deposed Dermot from his lands. Dermot fled to Wales and returned
with the English Strongbow and his forces in order to regain his lands
with the promise of his daughter as a bride. Thus began the invasion
of Ireland by the English. When Dermot died 1171, Strongbow took over
the kingship of Leinster.
The the
Annals of the Four masters records:
The English Hugh de Lacy "treacherously killed" Tiernan O'Rourke
in 1172.
Devorgilla in 1193, "died in the monastery of Drogheda Mellifont,
in the eighty-fifth year of her age."
The last
great lord of Castle Newtowne was Sir Brian O'Rourke. In 1591, he was
captured by the English and taken to London to be hanged for his support
of the Spanish Armada. In 1612 King James of England began dividing
up the lands of the O'Rourkes to English settlers. In the 1620's the
Parkes Castle site was granted to Captain Robert Parke, who built the
3 story plantation style house.
Parkes
Castle is located on the Sligo Dromahaire road on the NE shore of Lough
Gill.
Castles
of Ireland