| After
The Flight of the Earls in 1606 the English declare all lands owned by
the Earls forfeit and granted them to English settlers, the area in County
Tyrone where Newtownstewart Castle now stands were granted to a James
Clapham, who promptly sold them to to Sir Robert Newcomen. As part of
the terms of plantation it was required that the settlers built a castle,
work on Newtownstewart Castle was begun in 1615 and completed in 1622
it was described on its completion thus.
“A castle of lime and stone, 4 stories high. Around
it is a Bawn of lime and stone, 81 feet long, 66 feet long and 9 feet
high, with 2 flankers.”
Seven years later in 1629 the castle
and land were bought by Sir William Stewart, of Galloway, Scotland, Stewart
gave the town its present name Newtownstewart. The castle was attacked
and captured by by Sir Phelim O' Neill during the 1641 rebellion, during
the Williamite Wars Newtownstewart Castle and the town were burnt on the
orders of James II, possibly during his retreat from The Siege
of Derry the same fate befell Newry castle and
town.
All that remain of Newtownstewart
Castle at the foot of Main Street in the town are the triple south gable
wall standing to its origional height with a few of the internal walls
in one of which is a mullioned window which may date from a later renovation.
During conservation work in 1999 a Bronze Age burial cist was discovered,
this contained two large decorated urns complete with cremation material.
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