Portora Castle

County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland seems to have a wealth of castles built close to each other. I was surprised to learn how many there were in this area. I just got back from Castle Balfour and passed through the town of Enniskillen. There was a sign for a Portora Castle which I obligingly followed. This castle is on an elevated area presumably for defense. It is also strategically places near a narrowing of the nearby river also for defense. From the looks of it, Portora Castle isn’t in very good shape anymore. A lot of the castle walls have already come down and it was actually difficult to visualize it as a castle.

There are still parts which are still recognizable such as the best of a tower as well as wall with a window. Otherwise it is more ruins than castle. However, it is probably not that difficult to visualize this castle, since most of the castles in this area tend to be built alike. The former residents of the nearby Enniskillen castle moved here when the former burned down, so this was also an important place. However, it didn’t seem to be important enough that much of the castle is now ruined. I didn’t know it was this bad or I would probably have given this a pass.

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