Bawn in Castledoe

Doe Castle (National Monument Number 319): It is first mentioned in 1544 in connection with an internecine struggle between the sons of MacSweeny Doe. Some survivors of the Spanish Armada were granted refuge here in 1588. Between 1600 and 1614 the castle figured prominently in the local wars between the English and Irish. In 1614 it came into the possession of Capt. John Sandford and in 1623 it was described as 'an ancient strong castle, three storeys high, and a bawn of lime and stone . . . . with good flankers . . . . The castle and bawn (DG026-023003-) are well repaired by Captain Samford who hath made in it some additions of buildings, and hath covered the house and slated it, and is now building a stone house within the bawn' (Treadwell 1953-5, 43). Shortly after the outbreak of rebellion in 1641, Doe Castle fell into Irish hands and it was here, in 1642, that Owen Roe O'Neill landed with a hundred Irish veterans. It was captured by English forces under Sir Charles Coote in 1650 and continued as a military garrison during the second half of the 17th century. In the Williamite Wars it was taken by Donogh Og MacSweeny after the occupants had withdrawn for safety to Derry. It was subsequently abandoned and fell into ruins. Towards the end of the 18th century the lands came into the possession of George Vaughan Harte and c. 1800 he began to restore Doe Castle. 'All except the keep or tower was a complete ruin nearly level to this ground, even the court walls. The tower too was open from bottom to top . . . His son and successor, . . . Captain John Hart, finally completed the castle out-buildings and other improvements at great expense' (Fagan Bk. 2, 26). William Harte, who visited Doe during one of these alterations, records that on the E side 'there has lately been constructed outside of the exterior stone wall, a lunette of earthwork, on which are mounted five long nine-pounders cannon' (Floredice 1881, 3). The Harte family moved to Kilderry near Muff in 1864 and the estate was soon after purchased by Stewart of Ards. Though subsequently let to various tenants, the castle was abandoned by c. 1890 and allowed to fall into ruins. It was bought by the Irish Land Commission in 1932 and is now a national monument (McDonagh 1952, 381-402). Situated on a small promontory in Sheephaven Bay, Doe Castle is protected on three sides by the sea and on the landward W side by a deep rock-cut fosse. The remains comprise a tower-house with adjoining outbuildings enclosed by a bawn wall. Due largely to its chequered history and, in particular, to the alterations carried out there during the earlier 19th century by the Harte family, it is difficult, and in places, impossible to distinguish the original features from the later additions and reparations. The bawn walls have a prominent batter on the exterior. A flight of steps in the centre of the N and E walls gives access to the wall-walk with crenellated parapet. There is a pointed doorway in the S wall and another centrally set in the E wall is defended by a machicolation. The main entrance to the bawn is by a causeway over the fosse on the W, which is protected by crenellated walls fitted with gun-loops; these walls are not bonded on the E into the main curtain wall and projecting gate-tower. Immediately within the gate is the entrance to an underground passage which leads to a postern in the fosse through the S side of the causeway. The shaft in the SW section of the bawn may be the remains of a dried-up well. It is impossible to determine how much of the bawn wall is original and how much is a later restoration. In the light of Fagan's comments it is probable that considerable sections of the upper courses are secondary and the regular crenellations must certainly be Harte's work. The ravelin outside the bawn wall on the E should also be included as part of the conversion of the ruined Doe Castle into a pseudo-fortified residence though it is possible that there was an earlier work in that position. The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983).