Recently we had the opportunity to visit Parkes Castle on the lake shore of Lough Gill in Co Leitrim.

Lough Gill from the Shores of Lough Gill
The castle is a restored plantation* castle from the early 17th century, though within the grounds there is evidence of an earlier 16th century Tower House.

Evidence of Tower House in foreground on right hand side of photo
The Castle is now in ownership of the Office of Public Works (OPW) and we received an excellent guided tour from one of their staff, who explained a little about the history of the castle and how it has been restored.

Parkes Castle
One of the more fascinating facts was that the castle would have been home to over one hundred people including the family, guards, and servants.

Lough Gill
Afterwards we took a drive to the other side of the lake (now in Co Sligo) where there is a lovely forest walk at Slish wood, by then the sun had come out too.
Inspired by this week’s lens artist photo challenge – seascapes and or lakeshore
Addendum
*As Cathy noted I should have really explained the term “plantation castle”. Put in simple terms during the 16-century the English Crown was seeking to extend their control over Ireland. One of the ways they tried to do this was to confiscate land from Irish landowners (both Gaelic clans and Hiberberno-norman ones) and replace them with English or Scottish settlers. Between the 1550’s and the 1650’s Four Plantations took place in Ireland. Each plantation was the result of a rebellion by the Irish who were trying to resist the extension of English control over Ireland.
It looks stunning. I had to google plantation castles, never having heard of them. I had no idea about the Tudor period in Ireland, but I can well imagine that Henry 8th was worried about his Catholic neighbours. Fascinating post, thanks.
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Thank you Cathy. Yes, I should have thought to explain plantation castle. Maybe I should add an addendum:)
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Great photos that show a part of Irish history I had not heard of.
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Thank you. We do have quite a lot of castles but most are just ruins. It is lovely to visit this restored one and learn more about it’s history.
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A fascinating castle. Beautiful lake images, especially the last one. I love how you center the tree and the foreground of these rocks.Thank you so much for joining in!
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Thanks for hosting Amy. I could have chosen many seascapes too but thought this would make an interesting post.
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Beautiful selections, Murtagh! 🙂
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Thank you
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A beautiful restoration and location beside the lake. It looks much warmer in the sun! 🙂
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It wasn’t actually too cold, dark skies just make it look that way🙂
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We recently visited Ireland and learned more about the history of British occupation of Irish farmland, but I didn’t know about the 4 Plantation Castles. Fascinating, MM and great images, as always!
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Thank you Pattie.
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Pictoral and informative. Thanks for the history lesson!
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You are welcome. Glad you enjoyed it:)
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History… can be a harsh taskmaster…
Hopefully we can get over there some time… we haven’t done much more than drive through Sligo! 😉
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I would certainly recommend it
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A lovely landscape and a great position for a castle!
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They certainly knew where to place their castles!
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They certainly did know. Living history to see it so restored.
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I find it fascinating imagining what it would have been like to live there
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