NECARNE CASTLE AND EQUESTRIAN CENTER, IRVINESTOWN Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. horse and pony venue

Necarne Castle, also known as Castle Irvine, is a Victorian castle near Irvinestown in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The two-storey façade was designed by John B. Keane; work began in 1831.

south of the town of Irvinestown, in County Fermanagh, in Northern Ireland.

The core of Necarne Castle is a castle which was built in the 17th century by Gerard Lowther as part of the plantation of Ulster. In 1629, the lands were leased to Christopher Irvine and the Irvines remained there until 1922.

In the 1830s the castle and park were rebuild and a Victorian style wing was built against its southwest facade amongst other things.

In 1925, Captain Richard Outram Hermon, from Sussex, bought the castle. In 1927 an extensive restoration of the castle and its gardens was started while Captain Hermon and his new wife went off on a world cruise. The estate was turned into a haven for shooting parties, and Lord Mountbatten and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands were once guests at Necarne Castle.

In 1941 Necarne Castle was requisitioned by the United States Navy. It originally had 200 beds but was soon enlarged to a 500 bed institution and released to the American Army. The castle, then the 28th Station Hospital, cared for recuperating American soldiers and RAF personnel. After the war, the castle was never inhabited again and fell to ruin.

Fermanagh District Council bought the Necarne Castle estate in 1981; and in 1988 The NI Department of Agriculture leased the estate on a 25-year basis from them. In the last decades the outbuildings of the castle have been used as a student facility for the Enniskillen Agricultural College as the Necarne Castle Equine College. At present the college has moved out and the castle and its outbuildings are standing empty and are actually up for sale or lease.

The park around Necarne Castle can freely be visited during daytime. The ruin of the castle itself is boarded up, so its interior can not be visited. A nice castle and estate.

Irvines of 'The Castle Irvine'

In the 1920's school children in the Irvinestown area sang a little song:

"Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go hunting
For fear of D'Arcy's men."

The dark shadow of D'Arcy Irvine, the last Irvine incumbent of Necarne Castle, lay heavily upon them. They were afraid to roam the castle grounds for fear of being caught by the bailiff. Little were they to realize that all was to change a few generations later. As old men and women they would have the freedom to walk the grounds at their leisure and savor the beauty of the estate.




Necarne Castle or Castle Irvine, as it was formerly known, is situated within walking distance of Irvinestown in the lakeland County of Fermanagh. It is just a few miles from Lough Erne, a broad expanse of waterway waiting to be explored.

Necarne is rich in history. Edward Warde was the first undertaker of the land around Irvinestown at the time of the Plantation of Ulster in 1610. Undertakers were civilian groups who undertook, depending on the acreage of the ground they were given, to build a house and bawn, take in only British tenants at the rate of 24 men per 1000 acres, and to keep a number of armed men. Warde's patent was dated 13th May 1611. In those days the land was known as Nakarney or Nakarna (Necarne). The land changed hands a few times until finally Gerard Lowther took possession of it in 1615.

The has always been much speculation as to how Necarne got its name. Legend has it that Hugh Roe O'Donnell, an Irish chieftain, was on one of his marches to discipline the O'Briens who were collaborating with the English. He noticed an army fortification on his left flank and ordered his men to investigate it. They returned to say "Ni carn e" or there is no building there. Hence, the name Necarne.

Folklore has it that the inmates of the castle or building learned in time of the proposed march and covered their building with sods from a nearby field. This story has been passed down in Irvinestown through the years. We can still see this field known as the "Sod Park." It lies just to the left of the castle.

(Necarne Castle and the Ulster Lakeland Equestrian Park,

Pony Premier & All Ireland Interprovincials

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