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| MONEA CASTLE, COUNTY FERMANAGH. -The sketch presents a view of the ruined Castle of Monea, with "Crannoge" - a circular island, which formerly contained the habitations of primitive people, known as "Lake Dwellers" - in the County Fermanagh. The castle itself is not of great antiquity, being one of those built by the Anglo-Scotch "Colonists," popularly called "transplanters," who unsurped, by favor of James I, the "confiscated" lands of the native Irish, defeated, after a long and heroic struggle, by the Earl of Mountjoy in the preceding reign. It was stipulated in the royal grant "that every undertaker of the greatest proportion of two thousand acres shall within two years after the date of his letter patent, build thereupon a castle, with a strong court, or bawn, about it; and every undertaker of the second, or middle, proportion of fifteen hundred acres shall within the same time, build a stone or brick house thereupon, with a strong court or bawn about it," and so on, "in proportion." The "crannoges" were constructed by the ancient inhabitants of Ireland, partly for purposes of seclusion and partly for defense against the sudden attack of fierce enemies. Some still exist in many parts of the island, and many romantic traditions cluster around them. The "crannoges" are all artificial islands, formed generally on piles, and had a superstructure of timber. |
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