Charlemont Fort was a

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

situated in

Charlemont, County Armagh Charlemont ( Irish: ''Achadh an Dá Chora'', "field of the two weirs") is a small village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It sits on the right bank of the River Blackwater, five miles northwest of Armagh, and is linked to the neighbourin ...

History

The fort was built in 1602 by

Lord Mountjoy The titles of Baron Mountjoy and Viscount Mountjoy have been created several times for members of various families, including the Blounts and their descendants and the Stewarts of Ramelton and their descendants. The first creation was for Walter ...

. The name ''Charlemont'' came from Charles Blount's Christian name. It was situated on the Armagh bank of the River Blackwater, it was armed with 150 men under the command of Sir Toby Caulfield, whose descendants took the name Charlemont from the place. The Stronghold of Charlemont proved to be of great strategic importance in the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, took place from 1641 to 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, all then ...

in the 1640s, as it was one of only a handful of modern fortresses to be found in Ireland at that time. It was captured by the forces of Felim O'Neill in 1641 and the Ulster army of the Irish Confederates managed to hold on to the fort throughout the 1640s. O'Neill's forces were able to capture the fort by exploiting his landed status, calling on Lord Caulfield for dinner. It was eventually captured by Charles Coote after he had been reinforced by

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

soldiers in late 1650, but hundreds of Coote's soldiers were killed in the effort. During the 1689-1691

Williamite War in Ireland The Williamite War in Ireland took place from March 1689 to October 1691. Fought between Jacobitism, Jacobite supporters of James II of England, James II and those of his successor, William III of England, William III, it resulted in a Williamit ...

, it was occupied by a Jacobite force under Teague O'Reagan; while the defences were strong, the garrison was short of provisions and it surrendered to Williamite forces in April 1690. The fort ceased to be used as a garrison on 14 February 1858. It was destroyed in 1920 by fire and the only building remaining today is the gatehouse.

Governors

Governors of Charlemont included: *Henry Barry, 3rd Baron Barry of Santry *1719: John Tichborne * bef. 1756: John Johnston (d. 1770) *8 September 1770:

James Gisborne James Gisborne (died 1778) was a British Army officer and Member of the Irish Parliament. Biography He was the son of James Gisborne, rector of Staveley, Derbyshire; Thomas Gisborne was his younger brother. He went to Ireland as page to the ...

*27 February 1778: Lieut-General

Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 176 ...

*12 November 1808: Chapple Norton *31 March 1818:

Albemarle Bertie, 9th Earl of Lindsey General Albemarle Bertie, 9th Earl of Lindsey (17 September 1744 – 18 September 1818) was a British Army officer and politician. Early life Bertie was born on 17 September 1744. He was the son of Peregrine Bertie, a barrister of Lincoln's Inn ...

*21 September 1818:

Sir John Doyle, 1st Baronet General Sir John Doyle, 1st Baronet GCB, KCH (17568 August 1834) was a British Army officer and politician who served in the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was elected Member of Parliament fo ...

Destruction

On 30 July 1920 a group of around forty armed from the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

men seized the fort, which was being occupied by a caretaker, and burned it down. The ruins were sold in 1921 to a masonry contractor. In 1922 the family also lost their great house

Roxborough Castle Roxborough Castle was a castle in Moy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland originally built in 1738. It was the seat of the Earls of Charlemont, along with Charlemont Fort, and was burned out by the Irish Republican Army in 1922. Originally ...

to the same fate.inthedistrict.com
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History

Governors

Destruction

References

External links

See also