During the famous siege of the town in 1689 the Governor, Gustavus Hamilton, took up his residence in the castle, which belonged to Sir Michael Cole, who was absent in England.
In 1749 the fortress was in ruins.
| Authorities Consulted. |
| State Papers. |
| MS. Ordnance Survey. |
| Parliamentary Gazetteer. |
| Proceedings of Royal Society of Antiquaries, Ireland. |
| King, “Henry’s Upper Lough Erne.” |
| Witherrow, “Derry and Enniskillen.” |
| Earl of Belmore, “Governor Hamilton and Captain Corry,” and Ancient Maps of Enniskillen, both in Ulster Journal of Archæology. |
FERNS CASTLE
This ancient seat of royalty is situated five miles and three-quarters north-by-east of Enniscorthy, on the River Bann, in the County of Wexford. The name comes from Fearna, meaning alders, or “a place abounding in alders.”
The erection of the first stone castle is ascribed to Strongbow, and it is supposed to have been built upon the site of the fortress or dun of his father-in-law, Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster.
The present ruins are the remains of four round towers, which were joined by high curtain walls enclosing a courtyard. The building is one of great strength, and occupies an imposing situation above the town.
The most perfect of the towers contains a chapel, with a beautifully groined roof springing from consoles. Richard Donovan, who inherited the property in 1773, is said to have converted the sanctuary into an Orange Lodge, where high revel was held, and a visitor in 1864 states that an equestrian statue of William III. occupied the site of the altar beneath the east window.
Mr. Baranger, however, writing in 1780, says that the chapel was without a floor, and made one with the under apartment. He describes the room above it as arched, and also remarks that the edges of the stones of the long loophole windows had been cut underneath as if for cannon to be pointed through. A brass fieldpiece found in the castle was used for the defence of Wexford, 1641.