Tully Castle

Tully Castle lies on a hill overlooking the west shore of Lower Lough Erne, north of the village of Derrygonnelly, in County Fermanagh, in Northern Ireland.

Tully Castle was built between 1612 and 1615 for Sir John Hume of North Berwick.

It is a Plantation castle with a typically Scottish T-shaped plan with a square wing projecting from the center of the south side containing the entrance and a former scale-and-platt timber stair. The hall and parlor lay on the first floor, while the attics above contained the bedrooms, approached by a spiral stair in a Scottish-style quarter-round turret projection. The ground floor consists of a large barrel-vaulted chamber, used as the kitchen and storeroom, which has a huge fireplace and cooking recesses, but there are no windows, so light must have been provided by the fire and hanging lanterns. The castle had a thatched roof and was surrounded by a bawn with 4 rectangular flankers.

During the 1641 Rebellion Tully Castle was attacked by Rory Maguire. It surrendered on Christmas Eve on condition of safe conduct for the Hume family and the local Protestant settlers who had sought refuge in the castle. The Maguires imprisoned everyone in the vaults of the castle. On Christmas Day they massacred all the men, women and children, sparing only the Hume family. They then pillaged and burnt the castle. After that the castle was never rebuilt.

It became an overgrown ruin until 1974 when it was acquired by the Department of Environment. Then the castle was excavated, revealing traces of the 17th century garden, and consolidation works were carried out.

Tully Castle is freely accessible during July and August. It's a nice ride to the castle and the castle itself is quite nice also. It is also known for its historical garden. There is also a small exhibition in a cottage at the entrance of the castle grounds.

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