Dunnamanagh Castle, East of 284 Berryhill Road, Donemana BT82 0PA

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

The remains of a three-storey three-bay late eighteenth-century country house, located on the north side of Donemana village. The structure consists of three upstanding walls, with central full-height semi-circular entrance bay.

No roof, although remaining loosely castellated parapet suggests former concealed roof. Walls are random rubble stone bedded in lime mortar, with vestiges of lime render; the parapet is delineated by a projecting ashlar string course terminated by stepped semi-circular projections at either side. Chimney breasts in red imperial brick. Windows are generally square-headed, with pointed-arched windows to diminished second floor. No sills.

Principal elevation faces south and is four openings wide arranged to either side of a semi-circular projecting entrance bay with loosely castellated rubble stone parapet. Outer windows and those to second floor are infilled with brick or rubble stone; to extreme left, aprons separating windows have collapsed or been removed, leaving a single pointed-arched headed opening from ground floor sill level to second floor window head. The entrance bay has a single lancet opening to upper level surmounting a former door opening, now of indeterminate profile.

West elevation is blank.

Rear elevation is missing.

East elevation has two brick chimneybreasts and the remains of a brick projection to ground floor right, with the remains of what appears to be a bi-partite lancet opening.

The ruin is set in neatly maintained lawns belonging to adjacent late twentieth-century bungalows, which encroach closely on the structure. To rear, the site drops steeply away and is bounded by hedges. Access is now via a gravel drive leading to the modern houses, which partially conceal it from the main road.

Roof: Missing
Walling: Random rubble stone, partially lime rendered
Windows: Square and pointed arched headed, no glazing
RWG: None

Historical information

The building has the appearance of a Georgian gothick dwelling or folly and as far as can be determined from the remaining structure, probably dates from the late eighteenth century. It is shown on McCrea and Knox’s map of Tyrone dated 1813 as a castle in ruins, although the later Ordnance Survey map of 1832 does not so designate it, and in fact it is not described as a ruin on OS maps until the third edition of 1905. The first edition OS map appears to caption it, ‘Earls Gift’, but by the second edition it is ‘Dunnamanagh Castle’. No earlier maps were found to show the castle.

The Townland Valuation (1828-40) lists ‘an old castle’ and tower giving dimensions and describing it as ‘not habitable’ although a valuation is given to it of £3.6s.

In 1837, Lewis writes, “The greater part of this parish was granted by James I to Sir John Drummond who founded the town of Dunnamanagh and built a bawn 109 feet square, no part of which remains as the bawn was removed some years since and the modern building called the Castle was erected on its site.” (p.467)

In a book of survey and distribution dating from 1666-78, ‘Downemanagh’ is listed as the property of Sir William Hamilton Esquire of Elston, Knight and Protestant. His descendant Sir John Hamilton is mentioned several times in late-eighteenth-century correspondence between the Marquess of Abercorn and his agent James Hamilton as being in residence at ‘Donemanagh’ or occasionally ‘Earls Gift’ and it may be that the residence referred to is the current building.

On 19 March 1793, Hamilton writes, “Sir John Hamilton’s brother died last week at ‘Donemanagh’, his weight 42 stones. It took 16 planks to make his coffin…”

And on 19 March 1798, “Your Lordship will be astonished when I tell you that Sir John Hamilton has subscribed his entire pension £300 a year towards the war (?) [and] is living the life of a hermit at Donemanagh”.

James Hamilton’s letters report Sir John’s death in 1802 and speculate that his son ‘Young Sir John’ will be the last of the line, “If I can credit his surgeon and housekeeper he will never leave an heir”. He proposes that Abercorn try to obtain the reversion of young Sir John’s estates. As far as can be determined from the correspondence, the son does not appear to have lived at Dunnamanagh, and it may be that the building began to fall into disrepair shortly after Sir John’s death.

According to the Natural Stone Database, the stone used is local Dalradian schist and Tyrone carboniferous sandstone.

References:

Primary Sources
1. PRONI VAL/D623/A/88/9 – James Hamilton to Marquess of Abercorn (19 March 1793)
2. PRONI VAL/D623/A/90/12 – James Hamilton to Marquess of Abercorn (19 March 1798)
3. PRONI VAL/D623/A/94/16 – James Hamilton to Marquess of Abercorn (28 April 1802)
4. PRONI D173/1 – McCrea and Knox map of Tyrone (1813)
5. PRONI OS/6/6/3/1 – First Edition OS Map (1832)
6. PRONI OS/6/6/3/2 – Second Edition OS Map (1853)
7. PRONI OS/6/6/3/3 – Third Edition OS Map (1905)
8. PRONI VAL/1/B/639A-B – Townland Valuation (1828-40)

Secondary Sources
1. Lewis, Samuel. “A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Comprising the Several Counties, Cities, Boroughs, Corporate, Market, and Post Towns, Parishes, and Villages, With Historical and Statistical Descriptions; Embellished with Engravings of the Arms of the Cities, Bishopricks, Corporate Towns, and Boroughs; Of the Seals of the Several Municipal Corporations.” London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837.
2. www.stonedatabase.com

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Dunnamanagh Castle is a ruinous late eighteenth-century country house in the Gothick style, with the remains of pointed arched windows and a suggestion of crudely executed castellations. The castle is of traditional rubble stone construction, with lime rendered walling. Very little detailing remains, and nothing of the interior; the site has also been encroached on by late twentieth-century development, although the scale of the castle ensures that it remains a landmark building in the village, prominently located on entry from the east. Links with the Abercorn family enhance its local significance. It is too ruinous to consider listing.