Crevenish Castle

Crevenish Castle is a ruined tower house and bawn located approximately three kilometers south-west of Kesh in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Constructed around 1618, the structure was founded by Thomas Blenerhassett, an English writer and planter from Norfolk who authored a pamphlet on the plantation of Ulster. The castle was originally built as a stone and lime residence, slated and standing two and a half storeys high, accompanied by a small village and a church that were initiated during the same period. Architecturally, it features a square tower with loopholed windows and is constructed from limestone, displaying a distinctive design with an inset center section on the north side flanked by tower-like projections.

The site holds significant historical value due to its turbulent ownership history during the seventeenth century. Following Thomas Blenerhassett's death, the property passed to his son before temporarily moving into the hands of the local Maguire family when Thomas's widow married Rory Maguire, a prominent leader of the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Although the estate eventually returned to the Blenerhassett family under Henry Blenerhassett, who served as a Member of Parliament and High Sheriff, the building was reported as ruinous by 1697. Today, the castle remains in a state of decay with only the upper storeys still standing, and the grounds contain the historic tombstones of the Blenerhassett family.

Currently, Crevenish Castle is privately owned and stands as a testament to the early plantation era in Fermanagh. While no longer inhabited, the ruins preserve key structural elements that offer insight into the defensive domestic architecture of the time. The site serves as a quiet historical landmark near Lough Erne, marking the legacy of the Blenerhassett family and the complex political shifts that characterized the region during the seventeenth century.