Castle Balfour Demesne

Castle Balfour

Castle Balfour, Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
Castle Balfour
Castle Balfour shown within Northern Ireland
Irish grid reference H3634
District
County
Country Northern Ireland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Postcode district BT
Dialling code 028, +44 28
EU Parliament Northern Ireland
UK Parliament
NI Assembly

Castle Balfour Demesne is a townland of 201 acres in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the civil parish of Aghalurcher and the historic barony of Magherastephana.[1][2] It contains part of the small town of Lisnaskea, with the remainder in the townland of Lisoneill.[3]

The townland contains the 17th-century remains of Castle Balfour, just off the main street in Lisnaskea, built around 1618 by James, Lord Balfour of Glenawley.[4] The castle was altered in 1652 and damaged in 1689, but remained inhabited into the 19th century. It was restored and conserved in the 1960s and 1990s.[5]

There was also evidence of a very much earlier ringfort (with radiocarbon dates of 359-428 AD) in the townland [6] suggesting the area was inhabited from a very early date.

The listed Church of Ireland Holy Trinity Church is also situated in the townland.

See also

References

  1. "Castle Balfour Demesne". Ire Atlas Townlands Database. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  2. "Castle Balfour Demesne". Place Names NI. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  3. "Lisnaskea". Place Names NI. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  4. Flanagan, Laurence (1992). A Dictionary of Irish Archaeology. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. pp. 50–51. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  5. "Castle Balfour" (PDF). Northern Ireland Environment Agency. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  6. Stout, Matthew (1997). The Irish Ringfort. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 18 and 28. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
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