Ireland · Still standing
Enniskillen Castle
Enniskillen Castle stands in the town of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The site comprises a central tower keep and an encircling curtain wall strengthened with small projecting turrets; it now houses the Fermanagh County Museum and the Inniskillings regimental museum.
First raised
1428
Its prime
1609
Today
Still standing
Ranked among Europe’s castles
As it stood in 1609
What Enniskillen Castle looked like in its prime.
A compact stone fortress of pale grey masonry composed of a rectangular central tower keep flanked by two corbelled, cylindrical corner towers with conical slated roofs and a crenellated parapet. A low curtain wall with small projecting bartizan turrets wraps the keep; the riverside end features a prominent corbelled Watergate with twin circular tourelles. The castle sits at the edge of a town, approached across a grassy forecourt and path, stonework showing dressed ashlar faces.
Its story
The story of Enniskillen Castle.
Hugh Maguire's Castle and the Nine Years' War, 1428–1602
Hugh Maguire built a castle at Enniskillen in 1428. Captain John Dowdall's troops besieged it at the start of 1594, during the Nine Years' War; the castle fell on 2 February after a short siege, and its occupants were massacred once they had surrendered. It was besieged again later that year but the garrison was relieved, and the fortress did not finally fall to the Irish until 1595. It stayed in Irish hands until the summer of 1602, when it fell to the crown's Irish ally Niall Garve O'Donnell.
Cole's Watergate and the Siege of 1641
Captain William Cole was given command of the castle in 1607 and set about remodelling and refurbishing it, adding the riverside tower at its south end, known as the Watergate, in 1609; its two corbelled circular tourelles show a strongly Scottish style of building. Cole purchased the castle outright in 1623. During the Irish Rebellion of 1641 it was besieged unsuccessfully by Rory Maguire while sheltering Protestant settlers inside its walls.
Castle Barracks, 1796–1950
The castle was remodelled as Castle Barracks amid the threat of French invasion in 1796. It became home to the 27th Regiment of Foot in 1853, which moved out to purpose-built facilities at St Lucia Barracks, Omagh, in 1875 and was amalgamated in 1881 to form the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Other regiments continued to use the barracks, and from November 1939 they housed the North Irish Horse, a Territorial Army unit, until the barracks were decommissioned in 1950 and converted to a council depot; the castle was afterwards opened to the public as a heritage centre.
The Fermanagh County Museum and the Inniskillings
The castle's central tower keep and curtain wall, strengthened with small turrets called bartizans, are a State Care Historic Monument. It now houses the Fermanagh County Museum, covering the county's prehistory, natural history, traditional rural life and crafts including Belleek Pottery, alongside material on the Maguire family, and the Inniskillings Museum, dedicated to the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards.
Step inside
9 places to explore in 1609.
The record describes 9 distinct spots at Enniskillen Castle, including 4 interiors: inner courtyard within the curtain wall, interior chamber of the central keep, spaces that now house the fermanagh county museum and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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