Dungannon Castle

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Dungannon Castle was a castle in the town of Dungannon in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland .

history

Castle

In 1305, Domnall O'Neill had the castle built on what is now Castle Hill , one of the highest points in the area. The hill dominates the area and, depending on the weather, seven counties can be seen from there. A gatehouse was built there during the 15th century . Conn Mor O'Neill resided there in 1483 and in 1559 Shane O'Neill had the castle burned down so that it could not be used by the English armed forces. The O'Donnells destroyed the castle in 1590. It was also burned to the ground by Hugh O'Neill in 1594 and 1602 , as the Crown's forces under Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy , included the Gaelic nobles towards the end of the Nine Years' War . In 1607, 99 Irish chiefs and their followers, including Hugh O'Neill, fled from Rathmullan to mainland Europe. This was followed by the colonization of Northern Ireland, called the Plantation of Ulster . The town and its castle were given to Sir Arthur Chichester , the architect of the colonization, as a fief. Sir Chichester had the castle rebuilt, but in 1641 it was undermined and taken by Felim O'Neill of Kinard . In 1690 the castle was razed again .

Mansion

The property was sold to Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly , who had a mansion built on it. Today only two tower ruins remain.

20th and 21st centuries

The location of the property eventually led to the British Army taking over the site for a security facility during the Northern Ireland conflict in 1950 , after which the police took it over and it was only returned to the city council in August 2007.

In 2003 the castle was partially excavated. Later, in October 2007, were from archeology show Time Team of Channel 4 again excavations carried out, with part of the moat and the castle walls were discovered.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Archeology Ireland . Fall 2003. p. 24
  2. ↑ a b c d Archeology Ireland . Fall 2003. p. 25
  3. ^ Belfast Telegraph (October 19, 2007).

Coordinates: 54 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  N , 6 ° 46 ′ 12 ″  W.