Parke's Castle

The Annals of Lough Cé first mention O'Rourke's tower house at Baile Nua (New Town or Newtown) in 1546, when "great treachery was practiced by the sons of Alexander MacCabe against O'Ruairc in his own Town i.e. Baile Nua, his castle in the Barony of Drumahaire".[5] A roughly circular rock-cut ditch with an opening to the east is probably the oldest feature of the site, and may predate the tower house by some time. The material excavated from the moat provided limestone to build a pentagonal bawn wall within the enclosure. More building materials for both Duroy Castle and Newtown Castle would have been quarried in Cartron Glen close by. The tower house probably dates from 1450 to 1500, and was one of several residences belonging to the ruler of West Breifne, Sir Brian O'Rourke.[4]

During his rebellion against the Crown, O'Rourke damaged or "slighted" Newtown Castle in 1581 to make it unusable by the English. He also demolished his castles at Dromahair and Leitrim at this time. O'Rourke was knighted in 1585 but continued to defy the Crown, sheltering at least eighty Spanish sailors who had been shipwrecked at Streedagh in 1588.[6]

Accused of high treason, O'Rourke was attacked in Breifne from three directions. He fled his territory, travelling first to Doe Castle in the north of County Donegal in the north-west of Ulster, where he remained for a year. He then travelled to the Kingdom of Scotland, where he attempted to raise an army of gallowglass soldiers to help him reclaim his kingdom. Sir Brian O'Rourke was eventually arrested on the orders of King James VI, who refused to give him an audience. O'Rourke was extradited to London, where, after a period in the Tower of London, he was hung, drawn and quartered for high treason in London on 3 November 1591."[7]

His son and successor, Brian Og O'Rourke, inherited his title and continued his father's struggle against English invasion. O'Rourke harboured many Irish lords during the Nine Years' War and his castle in North Leitrim was the destination for O'Sullivan Beare's infamous march from the Beara Peninsula in the winter of 1602. O'Sullivan arrived with only thirty followers; nearly 1,000 of his kingdom's men, women and children had died on the journey.[7] Little is known of any activities at Newtown Castle during this period.

The plantation of Leitrim took place in the 1620, with half the county used to pay soldiers for the service during the Nine Years' War, when many large grants were made to favourite courtiers of King James I.[8] The land at Newtown was initially granted to Sir William Irving, a member of the Privy Council, who passed the property over to Sir John Spottiswood. Robert and William Parke, natives of Kent, were related to Roger Jones, a well-connected business man, and Jones brought his young nephews with him to Sligo in 1606. Robert Parke had acquired the site of O'Rourke's castle at Newtown and 1000 acres of land by November 1628.[4] William came into possession of the O'Rourke castle at Dromahair around the same time.[8]

The milestone on the road by Parke's Castle, indicating 7 miles to Sligo and 5 miles to Dromahair.

Robert Parke demolished the remains of O'Rourke's tower house at Newtown, recycling the stones to build the gate tower around 1630 followed by the manor house, which appears to have been completed by 1635. The earlier ditch surrounding the site was filled in with rubble, and Parke had a pair of defensive towers constructed on the north corners of the bawn wall. A pair of sentry turrets and a sally port, or water gate were added to the south wall. The height of the bawn walls were increased, and gun loops were added along the tops of the walls.[2] Parke, having demolished the earlier tower house, had the interior of the bawn paved with cobbles, which removed any traces of the earlier Gaelic castle.[4]

Parke appears to have prospered at Newtown, acquiring more land by the end of the 1630s, and having enough resources to lend money to other settlers. He employed many Irish workers on his lands, and kept a harper, Dermond O'Farry in his residence.[4]

Robert Parke, who became MP for Roscommon in 1641, was considered to be a man of standing, importance and influence in the north Connaught region.[4] However, he had a difficult time during the Rebellion which broke out in Ulster in the autumn of 1641, when he attempted to remain neutral and carry on as normal, hoping the uprising would soon be over.[7]

Sir Fredrick Hamilton, a Scottish soldier and planter who had built his castle at Manorhamilton (Irish: Cluainín Uí Ruairc) in 1635, was outraged by Parke's behaviour and lack of vigour in suppressing the rebellion. Hamilton, who was keen to crush the remnants of the O'Rourke's, had been besieged on a number of occasions in his own castle. Observing that Parke seemed to be under no threat and indeed was possibly collaborating with the Irish, Hamilton burned the village at Newtown in the spring of 1642.[4]

"A week or so after Easter, Sir Fredrick, with a party of horse and foot, burned some villages and killed a number of rebels two miles from Sligo town. He returned home via Newtown Castle and village, which he noticed had not been attacked at all by the insurgents. He was then informed that the rebels' cows had been allowed to graze right up to the bawn walls of the castle, without any interference by Robert Parke and his sixty-strong garrison, even while Manorhamilton was blockaded. Moreover, the Irish apparently passed freely by Parke's castle, with provisions from Sligo town, on their way to their camp at Cornastauk. So Hamilton decided there and then to burn Newtown village, which 'so long had relieved and sheltered the rogues', and to put some of the inhabitants to the sword. As for Parke himself, he would be made to answer for his collusion with the rebels on another occasion."[8]

Sunset over Lough Gill with Parke’s Castle in Foreground

Hamilton returned to Parke's residence, arriving at midnight on 1 July 1642. When the reluctant Parke finally admitted Hamilton to the castle, he was ordered to assemble his garrison in the courtyard. Hamilton then arrested Parke in front of his own soldiers, and forced him and a contingent of the Newtown garrison to accompany Hamilton on a dawn raid on Sligo town. Hamilton boasted that 300 rebels were put to the sword and the town burned during the raid. Parke was taken to Manorhamilton where Hamilton kept him prisoner for 18 months in his castle, ignoring a number of directives from the government to release the MP. When a year-long truce was declared, Parke was eventually released while Hamilton was away in Derry.[8] During the twenty-one months of the rebellion, at least 150 refugees were living at Parke's Castle (also known as Newtown Castle).[4]

Parke's Castle (or Newtown Castle) was held by Parliamentarian forces, who surrendered the building to The 1st Marquess of Clanrickard on 10 July 1649. It is not clear whether Robert Parke was resident in Newtown Castle at that time. In May 1652, Irish Royalist forces attacked, looted and burned the castle in Manorhamilton, effectively destroying its use as a fortification. Parke's Castle, occupied by Irish Royalists led by Donough O'Hart, was surrendered to Confederate forces led by Charles Coote on 3 June 1652; it seems certain that from this time on Parke was back resident in his castle at Newtown.[4]

The Family Room in Parke's Castle, showing models of Robert Parke, his wife Ann, and his two younger children, Robert and Maggie, who were drowned in Lough Gill in 1677.

Robert Parke was married to County Roscommon woman Ann Povey, and they had three children; Ann, Robert (b. 1661) and Maggie (b. 1663). The name given to the estate by the Parke family was Newtown Castle, and they made it their permanent residence. Robert Parke died in the autumn of 1671, and his wife Ann seems to have died shortly afterwards.[4] Tragedy befell the remaining family when Maggie and Robert drowned while boating on Lough Gill in 1677, leaving Ann as the sole heiress. Ann married Sir Francis Gore and went to live with him in County Sligo, allowing the castle to fall into disrepair following her parents’ deaths.

The manor house was uninhabited for three centuries while the bawn was used as a farmyard by the residents of Newtown village. The site came into State ownership in 1935 and was used as a storage depot by the Office of Public Works.[4]