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
- ^ "Castle Balfour Demesne". Ire Atlas Townlands Database. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "Castle Balfour Demesne". Place Names NI. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "Lisnaskea". Place Names NI. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ Flanagan, Laurence (1992). A Dictionary of Irish Archaeology. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. pp. 50–51.
- ^ "Castle Balfour" (PDF). Northern Ireland Environment Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ Stout, Matthew (1997). The Irish Ringfort. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 18 and 28.
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