Castle Caulfield

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Castle Caulfield
Tyrone
Castel Caulfield Ruins.jpg
Castle Caulfield Ruins
Location
Grid reference: H75506260
Location: 54°30’23"N, 6°50’6"W
History
Built 1611 and 1619
For: Sir Toby Caulfeild
Country house
Information
Condition: Ruined
Owned by: (State care)

Castle Caulfield is a large ruined house situated in Castlecaulfield, Tyrone.

History

The house was built by Sir Toby Caulfeild[1] after he was granted 1,000 acres during the Plantation of Ulster. This land was previously owned by the O'Donnelly family, who were closely connected to the O'Neill clan in Dungannon. The O'Donnelly fort was a few miles west of Castle Caulfield.

Sir Toby built his house on his new estate between 1611 and 1619.

Castle Caulfield in 1868

Castle Caulfield was burned in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 but was repaired and reoccupied by the Caulfeilds until the 1660s. Oliver Plunkett is known to have held a service at the castle in 1670, but the castle was in ruins when John Wesley preached here in 1767.

Form

Castle Caulfield, Present Day

The building was three storeys high with attics, a cellar, many large mullioned windows and tall chimneystacks. A joist from one of the walls was dated using dendrochronology to about 1282 and may belong to an earlier fort. There are substantial remains. The gatehouse was rebuilt at a later date, although one of the doorways may be reused. The Caulfeild arms appear over the entrance.

Castle Caulfield, today a ruin, is a state care monument.[2]

Ownership

Commons-logo.svg
("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Castle Caulfield)

References

  1. "Sir Toby Caulfeild". thePeerage.com. http://www.thepeerage.com/p21429.htm#i214287. Retrieved 2008-01-01. 
  2. List of State Care Monuments (Historic Environment Division)