Augher Castle

THE CARMICHAEL-FERRALLS OWNED 236 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR HUGH LYLE CARMICHAEL (1764-1813), son of Hugh Carmichael by his wife Elizabeth (daughter of HUGH LYLE, of Coleraine), Governor of Demerara, married Catherine, last surviving child and heiress of Dr John Ferrall, of Jervis Street, Dublin, and had issue,

JOHN O'FERRALL CARMICHAEL, Lieutenant-Colonel, 18th Regiment and 6th Dragoon Guards, of Duncroft House, Staines, Middlesex (d 1836), who wedded Elizabeth, daughter of the Rt Rev John Porter, Lord Bishop of Clogher, and had issue,

JOHN JERVIS O'FERRALL, his heir;
Mary, m Ven C Burney, Archdeacon of Kingston-on-Thames.

His only son,

JOHN JERVIS O'FERRALL CARMICHAEL-FERRALL JP (1820-1904), Captain, Royal Navy, of Augher Castle, County Tyrone, served under Admiral Sir Charles Napier off the coast of Syria, and had the British and Turkish medals.

He married, in 1850, Margaret, daughter of Sir John Nugent Humble, 1st Baronet, of Cloncoskoran, County Waterford, and had issue, an only child,

JOHN, of Augher Castle.

Captain Carmichael-Ferrall assumed the additional surname and arms of FERRALL in 1852.

He was succeeded by his son,

JOHN CARMICHAEL-FERRALL JP DL (1855-c1925), of Augher Castle, Barrister, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1907, who wedded, in 1899, Elizabeth Emily (1856-1946), third daughter of the Rev David Henry Elrington, Vicar of Swords, County Dublin, by Matilda Rowena, his wife, daughter of the Rev Pierce William Drew, of the Strand House, Youghal.

SPUR ROYAL, also known as Augher Castle, stands outside Augher, County Tyrone.

It was originally a square, three-storey Plantation castle, with a peculiar triangular tower in the middle of each of its sides.

It was built ca 1615 by Sir Thomas Ridgeway, Earl of Londonderry, on the site of an older fortress.

The Castle was burnt in 1689 by the Jacobites, though was restored in 1832 by Sir James Richardson-Bunbury, 2nd Baronet, who added two castellated wings.

Augher Castle in 1770

The original castle (above) consisted of a pentagonal tower surrounded by a wall twelve feet high and flanked by four circular towers.

The wall has been removed, though one of the round towers has been restored.

The entrance gateway has also been removed and rebuilt on an elevated situation commanding some fine views, in which the remains of the old castle form an interesting object.

The mansion is situated in a well-wooded demesne of 220 acres, and on the edge of a picturesque lake.

Founded in the early 17th century, part of the bawn of the original house is incorporated into the present house of 1827 by Warren.

It has passed through many hands in recent times and little parkland remains.

A large portion of the present holding is taken up by the lake, making a spectacular setting for the house, which is surrounded by lawns and shelter trees.

Few mature trees remain of a once, ‘tastefully wooded’ site.

The walled garden is concreted.

There is a gate lodge of ca 1840.

At the time of the Plantation of Ulster, by virtue of a decree by JAMES I in 1611, Sir Thomas Ridgway, treasurer at war for Ireland, received, in 1613, a grant of 315 acres of land in the barony of Clogher, under an agreement that he should, within four years, settle on a parcel of land called Augher twenty Englishmen or Scots, chiefly artificers and tradesmen, to be incorporated as burgesses and made a body politic within the said four years; and should set apart convenient places for the site of the town, churchyard, market-place, and public school; he was likewise to assign to the burgesses houses and lands and 30 acres of commons.

Sir Thomas Ridgeway also received, in 1611, the grant of a market and two fairs to be held here.

In 1613, the town and precincts, with the exception of a fort and bawn called Spur Royal which had been erected, were created a borough. 

Spur Royal photo credit:  Kenneth Allen.  First published in October, 2010.