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The earliest record of a Castle situated at Lissanoure dates
from 1300 and it was constructed by the Red Earl. It appears to have been a
naturally defensive position, with a crannog situated in the lake.
The estate was acquired from the O’Hara’s of Crebilly
in 1733 by George Macartney, a member of the Irish Parliament, for over 54 years.
It passed in due course to his only grandson, George, later Envoy Extraordinary
to Catherine the Great, Chief Secretary for Ireland, President at Madras, Ambassador
to China, Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, Earl in the Irish Peerage and Baron
in the British Peerage. He died childless in 1806 and the estate passed to his
nephew, who adopted the name Macartney as soon as he came of age.
It
was his wife, Mrs Macartney, who was killed when the Castle was partially destroyed
in a terrific explosion on 5th October 1847. The destruction was brought about
in the following manner. “A large number of invitations were issued for
a ball, which was to be held during the night. About noon, it occurred to the
steward that a large quantity of gun powder, which had been stored in the vaults
at the time of the rebellion in 1798 by local militia, might have become damp
and ordered that one of the barrels be removed and examined in one of the rooms.
There was no fire in the room during the time and it is generally believed that
a spark must have blown through the open window and ignited the gunpowder, producing
the most terrific explosion, partially wrecking the Castle.”
The demesne remained in the Macartney family until the last
century, when it was acquired by the present family.
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