Outside Bawn Wall

Today, the ruins of the castle stand 1km south of Monea Village, on a small sandstone ridge or plateau surrounded by agricultural fields. The finest of Fermanagh’s Plantation Castles, Monea Castle is a well-preserved four-storey building.  

Monea may have been the headquarters of the Maguire clan before Enniskillen became their capital.  The Maguires, Lords of Fermanagh, spent the late 1500s fighting the armies of Queen Elizabeth I of England.  As a result, when King James came to the throne in the early 17th century, he seized their land and gave it to English and Scottish Planters on condition that they controlled the area.