Historic Places in County Tyrone

Altinaghree Castle is a derelict castle situated on private farmland outside Donemana, south of Londonderry in County Tyrone. The castle is also known as Altnacree Castle, Liscloon House, and is known locally as Ogilby's Castle. It was once a large elegant building with magnificent banquet room, but is now in ruins. The building is constructed from cut stone. Facilities The castle is on private land and is not open to the public, but can be seen and photographed from the main Dunamanagh - Claudy Road (B49). The castle is believed to have been built by William Ogilby around 1860. James Douglas Ogilby, who later became a famous ichthyologist in Australia was the son of William Ogilby. James fell in love with a factory seamstress, Mary Jane Jamieson, and was denied permission to marry her. He ended up eloping and marrying her in 1884. He moved to Australia where he was appointed to the Australian Museum in 1885. The castle was abandoned by the end of the century and fell into disrepair.

Harry Avery's Castle near Newtownstewart in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, is a ruined fourteenth-century castle associated with Henry Aimhréidh O'Neill, a powerful chief of the O'Neill dynasty who ruled this part of Ulster in the early fourteenth century. The castle is distinctive for its twin towers flanking the entrance gateway, an architectural feature more typical of Anglo-Norman castle design than of the native Irish building tradition, suggesting the O'Neill chief had access to skilled castle builders familiar with advanced military architecture of the period. The castle is in the care of the Historic Environment Division and is freely accessible on a hilltop providing views across the Strule valley and the surrounding Sperrins uplands.

Mountjoy Castle has a commanding elevated position overlooking Lough Neagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, built by Lord Mountjoy, the Lord Deputy of Ireland who brought the Nine Years' War to a conclusion with his decisive campaign against Hugh O'Neill in 1601-02. The castle was constructed as a strategic fortification to control the western approach to Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in Ireland and Britain, and to consolidate English military control over this part of central Ulster following the defeat of the great Gaelic Ulster chieftains. The brick and stone construction of the four-square castle with circular angle towers is unusual in an Irish context and reflects English military building practice of the early seventeenth century. The castle is now a substantial ruin overlooking the lough and is accessible to visitors.

Stewart Castle near Newtownstewart in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, is a ruined plantation-era tower house associated with the Stewart family, Scottish settlers who established themselves in this part of Tyrone during the Plantation of Ulster in the early seventeenth century. The castle occupies a position in the Strule valley in the foothills of the Sperrins, the long mountain range that forms the backbone of central Ulster and provides some of the finest upland walking in Northern Ireland. The town of Newtownstewart was planted by the Stewarts and retains its plantation town character in its street layout and the various stone buildings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, providing one of the more coherent examples of a plantation settlement in County Tyrone.