Portora Plantation Castle

17th Century Castle, Bawn

King James I began the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century, Protestants from England and Scotland were settled on land that was confiscated from the native Gaelic chiefs. Fermanagh has some of the best examples of Plantation Castles in the province. The castles at Portora and Enniskillen are located on the banks of the River Erne, Tully Castle, Crevenish Castle, Castle Caldwell, and Old Castle Archdale were built on the shores of Lower Lough Erne and Crom Castle on the shore of Upper Lough Erne. The two finest examples are probably, Castle Balfour at Lisnaskea and Monea Castle, which is situated just seven miles north-west of Portora.

Portora Castle was built in c.1614 by Sir William Cole. It was a three-storey fortified house, built across the full width of a rectangular bawn. The bawn, built from random rubble masonry, had a corner tower/flanker at each compass point. The house stretched from the west tower to the north tower, the east tower no longer remains. After surviving the conflicts in 1641 and 1689 the castle finally fell in 1859, to the hands of some schoolboys playing with homemade explosives. The Portora, Archdale, Caldwell and Crevenish castles were built by English undertakers, individuals who were given grants, in the English style and the Balfour, Crom, Monea and Tully castles were built by Scottish undertakers in the Scottish style.