By a small lough, near Newmills, in County Tyrone, Roughan Castle presents a singular plan that makes it one of the most original castles of the Plantation of Ulster: a central square block flanked by four round corner towers.
A singular plan
Roughan Castle was built around 1618 by Andrew Stewart, eldest son of the 3rd Lord Ochiltree (Lord Castlestewart), a planter come from Scotland. Its plan is remarkable: a central three-storey square block, flanked by four round towers at the corners. This composition — a main range framed by circular towers — is an elegant and defensible form, which distinguishes Roughan from the other Plantation castles. It bears witness to the architectural care some planters put into their houses, combining residential comfort and defensive capacity.
Defence and underground passage
Roughan well illustrates the double nature of the Plantation castles: houses as much as fortresses. Each of its four corner towers is pierced with gun loops on the ground floor, allowing the approaches of the castle to be swept by fire — a necessary precaution in a freshly colonised country, where the colonists feared uprisings. An underground passage also ran beneath the castle, doubtless offering a route of escape or communication in case of siege. These arrangements tell the insecurity in which the Scottish planters of Tyrone lived, settled on lands taken from the O'Neills. To see: the four round corner towers, the gun loops on the ground floor of the towers, the underground passage beneath the castle, the setting by the small lough.
Did you know?
Beneath Roughan Castle ran an underground passage — a telling detail of the state of mind of the Plantation planters. To build a fine house with four round towers was not enough: escape had also to be planned. These Scottish colonists, settled at the heart of the territory of the dispossessed O'Neills, lived in constant fear of an uprising — a fear justified by the rebellion of 1641, which would set Ulster ablaze and strike so many colonists' castles.
Notes
Roughan Castle lies near Newmills / Coalisland, County Tyrone; remains run by the NI heritage bodies, accessible. Hours to check.
Quiz
- Who built Roughan Castle around 1618?
- Andrew Stewart, Scottish planter
- A Maguire chief
- Henry VIII
- What is singular about its plan?
- A square block flanked by four round towers
- A triangular plan
- A circular form
- What ran beneath the castle?
- An underground passage
- A river
- A mine tunnel