A plantation castle with a Bronze Age past

Newtownstewart Castle was built by Sir Robert Newcomen in 1615. This was the period soon after The Flight of the Earls when the Gaelic nobility fled to Europe never to return. In 1629 the castle was sold to Sir William Stewart, of Newtown Stewart in Galloway in Scotland who subsequently renamed the town after his family and birthplace. The castle was extensively damaged during the 1641 Insurrection when it was captured by Sir Phelim O’Neill. In 1689, after the Siege of Derry, King James ordered its destruction so it wouldn’t fall into the hands of the Williamite Army. Since that date, it has remained in a ruined state. The most distinctive features are its triple gables, the chimney-stack, and the stepped gables which are influenced by Scottish architecture while the 8-pointed, star-shaped brick chimney-stack is English.  During an excavation in 1999, an amazing Bronze Age discovery was made when an intact double cist grave and capstone were found.