Charlemont Fort

Charlemont Fort was a garrison situated in Charlemont, County Armagh.

The fort was built in 1602 by Lord Mountjoy. The name Charlemont came from Charles Blount's Christian name. It was situated on the Armagh bank of the River Blackwater, it was armed with 150 men under the command of Sir Toby Caulfield, whose descendants took the name Charlemont from the place.

The Stronghold of Charlemont proved to be of great strategic importance in the Irish Confederate Wars in the 1640s, as it was one of only a handful of modern fortresses to be found in Ireland at that time. It was captured by the forces of Felim O'Neill in 1641 and the Ulster army of the Irish Confederates managed to hold on to the fort throughout the 1640s. O'Neill's forces were able to capture the fort by exploiting his landed status, calling on Lord Caulfield for dinner. It was eventually captured by Charles Coote after he had been reinforced by New Model Army soldiers in late 1650, but hundreds of Coote's soldiers were killed in the effort.

During the 1689-1691 Williamite War in Ireland, it was occupied by a Jacobite force under Teague O'Reagan; while the defences were strong, the garrison was short of provisions and it surrendered to Williamite forces in April 1690.

The fort ceased to be used as a garrison on 14 February 1858. It was destroyed in 1920 by fire and the only building remaining today is the gatehouse.

Henry Barry, 3rd Baron Barry of Santry 1719: John Tichborne bef. 1754: John Johnston (d. 1770) 8 September 1770: James Gisborne 27 February 1778: Lieut-General Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester 12 November 1808: Chapple Norton 31 March 1818: Albemarle Bertie, 9th Earl of Lindsey 21 September 1818: Sir John Doyle, 1st Baronet

On 30 July 1920 a group of around forty armed from the Irish Republican Army men seized the fort, which was being occupied by a caretaker, and burned it down. The ruins were sold in 1921 to a masonry contractor. In 1922 the family also lost their great house Roxborough Castle to the same fate.

Text adapted from “Charlemont Fort” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Charlemont Fort ranks #6,120 of 7,044 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #25 of the 32 mapped in Northern Ireland. Founded 1602, it is older than 30% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 522 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. See how Northern Ireland compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗