#crom castle

[wgm-beautiful-world]

CROM CASTLE - IRELAND

[theirishaesthete]

Romantic Views

The ruins of old Crom Castle, County Fermanagh. Located on the shore of Upper Lough Erne, this was built in 1610 by Scottish settler Michael Balfour: nine years later it was described by Nicholas Pynnar as ‘a house set of lime and stone’ situated inside ‘a bawn of lime and stone being 60 feet square, 12 feet high with two flankers.’ In 1655 Crom was acquired by the Crichton family who lived here…

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[theirishaesthete]

Intra Muros

A gate giving access to the walled garden on Inisherk Island, part of the estate at Crom Castle, County Fermanagh. This dates from the 1830s, when the present house was built for the Crichton family. The artist and landscape designer William Sawrey Gilpin laid out the demesne here during this period, so presumably he was responsible for the walled garden also. Running to some three acres, one…

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[theirishaesthete]

Summer in Winter

Seen from the bridge across Upper Lough Erne to Inisherk Island, this is the hexagonal summer house at Crom Castle, County Fermanagh. According to an 1830s Ordnance Survey map, it stands on the site of an older schoolhouse, but that in turn may have been adapted from an 18th century building, the two-storey hexagonal building designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce ‘For Mr Creighton to be built on a…

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[jeanreinhardt]

Last week I had no access to WiFi to participate in Thursday Doors but I had lots of opportunities to collect some interesting photos for this week’s post. These lovely little cottages (some not so little) are a delight to stay in, situated near Redhills, county Cavan. Ours was the yellow one with a lovely view of the lake and its visiting herons and swans.

Great for fisher folk and nature lovers.

Sleeps up to 10 people.

Bait shed with fridge/freezer

The view from our cottage.

The afternoon we took the boat upriver was the warmest and sunniest day of the week. We had never been on this part of the waterway before and as it was midweek and out of holiday season we seemed to have the river all to ourselves. Well, almost . . . . . . .

Of course there was the odd swan, enjoying the still water and sunshine, and some horses quenching their thirst just like the cattle. Sorry about the quality but I had to zoom in on my phone to capture the swan.

We docked at Crom Estate, county Fermanagh (Northern Ireland), the historic seat of the Earls of Erne for over 350 years. It’s a 1,350 acre nature reserve, owned and managed by the UK’s National Trust.

Of course, with my timing, the visitor center was closed but there was plenty to see on our way to the historical ruins of the original Crom Castle – such as the estate’s coachhouse and courtyard. These have been converted to self-catering accommodation in this wonderful scenic, tranquil setting. The slide show will be a treat for all you blue-door lovers.

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It was a bit of a walk to get to the ruins but the landscape was beautiful and it was well worth the hike.

To the right of the tower in the image below you’ll see an old yew tree spread out and looking more like a shrub.

Inside the foliage you’ll find the tangled branches of a conjoined pair of a male and female English yew, with a combined circumference of 377ft (115m) and a diameter of 115ft (35m). The larger, older female yew is of a considerable age, reputed to be over 800 years old. The male tree is much younger and is thought to have been planted in the 19th century. The earliest known reference to the tree is from 1739, when it was described as an already venerable old tree.

In the 19th century, additional walls and towers were added to the ruins of the old castle to give a more romantic effect. Here’s a slide show of what we saw when we got there. No words needed to describe it.

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These are the ruins of the original castle at Crom, built by Michael Balfour in 1611, of lime and stone and enclosed within a bawn (a defensive wall surrounding an Irish tower house). The castle and the estate passed to the Crichton family in 1655 when Abraham Crichton married the daughter of the previous tenant, the Bishop of Clogher. Having survived two Jacobite sieges, it was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1764. According to tradition, when Abraham Crichton (a descendant and namesake of the first Abraham) was returning in his boat from a housewarming party at Florence Court, he saw a worrying glow in the sky to the south and arrived home to find his castle gutted. In 1840 a new neo-Tudor Crom Castle was built, designed by Scottish architect Edward Blore. It remains the property of the Earl of Erne and is not open to the public (except for the West Wing), so we didn’t trek across the fields to look at it or take any photographs. However you can see it for yourself at this link:  Crom Castle Virtual Tour

For anyone who would like a fishing holiday, with a tour guide who speaks English and French and knows where the best places to fish are, Clonandra Cottages, Redhills is the place to stay. Boat hire and canoeing and kayaking are also available in the area, too.

Many thanks for stopping by and if you would like to enjoy an international selection of Thursday Doors, why not pay a visit to Norm’s blog and see what’s on offer this week.

Thursday Doors Last week I had no access to WiFi to participate in Thursday Doors but I had lots of opportunities to collect some interesting photos for this week's post.

[statelyhomesofengland]

Crom Castle

[and-the-distance]

Crom Castle, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

[changingaine-blog]

Christmas Vlog!  Probably my last vlogmas video!  Stupid illness.  I managed to get out for a walk while I was at home though and even feed some deer!  Come for a wander with me :)