The Plantation of Ulster began in the early 17th century under King James I, when English and Scottish Protestants settled on land confiscated from the Gaelic Irish.

Land was apportioned to Scottish and English undertakers (landlords given an estate of land in exchange for an undertaking to settle  English or Scottish families) or servitors (those who had served the monarch as an official or a soldier in the Irish campaign). Some Irish freeholders willing to swear allegiance to the Crown were also rewarded with land ownership.

The Plantation Castles provide a visible legacy of the period. Fermanagh has some of the best preserved ruins of Plantation castles in the whole of Ireland.  Many Plantation Castles where built on the sites of former Gaelic Strongholds.

To book onto our Plantation Castle Education Tour, please contact our Development Officer, Catherine Scott