The Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries

'At the south syde of the country, at the coming of
the lough, is an old ruyned castle called Newcastle.'

After the Brown Earl had been killed, the fortress of Northburg fell to O Doherty, who became Lord of Inishowen.

The Annuls of Ulster relate that in 1342 'Donal O Doherty, arch-chief of Ard Midhair died, and there was little wanting from his having the lordship of Inishowen.'

Inis Eóghain the peninsula of Owen, took its name from Prince Eoghan, or Owen, son of Nial of the Nine Hostages, High King of Ireland in the fifth century; the remains of his fortress of Aileach, an ancient stone cashel on a hill a few miles north-west of Derry, can be seen from Greencastle on a clear day. Inishowen was the original Tír-Eóghain, or land of Eóghan, but his descendants moved south, into territory part of which is now the present county of Tyrone, and they founded the family of O Neill.

Eóghan had another brother Conall, who ruled in Tír Conaill, or what is now western Donegal, and from him descend the great family of O Donnell, of which the O Doherties are a branch. The latter crossed the Swilly into Inishowen, superseding an older ruling family of O Gormley.

Another famous family descended from Eóghan is that of the MacLochlainns; they were High Kings of Ireland for two centuries, but were finally defeated in 1241 by the O Neills. They survive as landholders in Inishowen, and there are many of their name to-day especially in Greencastle. In the north of Inishowen the MacFauls were lords of the castle of Carrickabraghey.

In 1413 the Annals of the Four Masters record that 'Connor O Doherty, Chief of Ardmire and Lord of Inishowen, a man full of generosity to the poor and needy, died.'

It was probably about this time that the castles of Inch, Elagh and Burt were built; Buncrana maybe of an earlier date.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century the Annals record the death of Red Hugh O Donnell, one of the greatest of his family. He is described as 'the full moon of the hospitality and nobility of the North' and there was ' no defence made in Tír Conaill in his time except to close the door against the wind only.' He founded the monastery of Donegal.

In 1543 there was a settlement between the O Neills and the O Donnells' the English Deputy and the Council intervened to decide which of them was rightly suzerain of Inishowen, and further whether O Donnell himself did not owe homage to O Neill. They awarded Inishowen to O Donnell, with a head-rent to O Neill declared O Donnell independent, and forbade both to exact tribute, 'buannacht' or service outside their territories.

During the sixteenth century ships of many countries must have sailed in and out of the bays and lochs of the Donegal coast; it was a great fishing ground, and from France, Spain and Portugal came merchants with wine, salt and spices in exchange. An English document of 1560 says that O Donnell is the best lord of fish in Ireland, and he exchangeth fish always with foreign merchants for wine, by which (he) is called in other countries the "King of Fish."

There was also a great coming and going of Frenchmen at that time. In a manuscript of the Melville Memoirs in the Bannatyne Museum in Edinburgh, there is an account of a French Ambassador visiting Loch Foyle to meet O Doherty in order to obtain aid for an alliance between France and England. The meeting took place in a house near the shore of the loch, and 'the great dark tower' mentioned might have been Greencastle. The next year some French nobles were trying to get hold of three castles in Inishowen.

In 1541 Séan Mór Ó Doherty, Lord of Inishowen, joined with other chiefs in submitting to Henry VIII, and was given the title of Sir John Mor O Doherty. He married Rose, daughter of Manus O Donnell, Lord of Tír Conaill, who was famous for his rich clothes of crimson, satin and velvet, and who was said to be the most elegantly dressed man in Ireland.

Manus O Donnell had a son Calvach: Calvach quarrelled with his father, and here is the last record of the Four Masters for Newcastle: 'In the Age of Christ 1555 - the son of O Donnell, i.e. Calvach, went to Scotland, attended by a few select persons, and obtained auxiliary forces from MacCailin (Gillaspick Don), under the command of Master Arsibel (Archibald or Archbold). It was on this occasion that he brought with him a gun called Gonna-Cam, by which Newcastle in Inishowen, and the castle of Enagh were demolished.' There is a note to the effect that Gonna-Cam was translated as the crooked gun, or Tormentum Curvuum. In the treaty or contract made in 1555 between Archibald, Earl of Argyll and Calvach O Donnell, it is specified that 'the Earl to wit McAllen to keep and assist O domnaill, and O domnaill to be put under subjection an obedience to him during his power and that for a gune or cannon for the batterie or beating doone of stronge walls or castellls which are heard to be brocken...'

In 1588,one of the Spanish Armada ships, the Trinidad Valencera of Venice, was wrecked in O Doherty country. Hugh O Neill, Earl of Tirone -'The Great O Neill'' defied the English, and sent a great herd of cattle to help feed the castaways on Inishowen, and O Doherty saved many from the wreck.

Here is a description of Inishowen in 1588, from a contemporary English document:

'O Doughertie's country is a promontory almost environed by the sea, namely with Lough Swilly on the south,and Lough Foyle on the north. O Doughertie is forced to contribute to O Neyle and O Donnelle. His country, lying upon the sea and open to the isles of Ila and Jura in Scotland, is almost yearly invaded by the Scots, who take their spoil of it at there pleasure, whereby O Doughertie is forced always to be at their devotions. He is able to make 60 horsemen and 300 footmen. Buildings in his countrie are the Dery (and) Greencastle, which are wardable.'

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