Parke's Castle

Parke's Castle, also known as Newtowne Castle, is a 17th century semi-fortified manor house. It is situated on the shores of Lough Gill, in County Leitrim, Ireland. The castle is built on the site of an earlier, 16th century O'Rourke (Uí Ruairc) tower house. The castle and bawn had been purchased by Captain Robert Parke in the 1630s. He had been granted some of the former O'Rourke lands as part of the Plantations. After Robert Parke died in 1671, the castle passed to the Gore family. The castle was then abandoned by the middle of the 18th century. Whilst there are no records as to when the Gore family had left the castle, it was depicted on a drawing by Sir Thomas Cocking from 1791. The illustration shows the castle as being in a ruinous state. It remained uninhabited for almost three centuries. The site was purchased by the Office of Public Works in 1935 and was then in state care. Archaeological excavations, directed by Claire Foley, were conducted between 1971 and 1975. The excavations revealed the foundations of the O'Rourke (Ua Ruairc) tower house and a number of other structures within the bawn. The excavations also yielded various objects from the 19th century, indicating reuse of the site. It was later revealed that the bawn had been used as a farmyard and stables by local residents right up until the early 20th century. The site was restored between 1980 and 1988, and the site has been open to the public as a visitor centre, on a seasonal basis, since 1990.