Castle Saunderson ( ga, Caisleán Shandarsan) is a castle near

Belturbet Belturbet (; ) is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. It lies on the N3 road, around north of Cavan town and from Dublin. It is also located around south of the border with Northern Ireland, between the counties of Cavan and Fermanagh, and fr ...

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was the former family seat of the Saunderson family, and is now in ruins. The Finn River flows along the north-eastern edge of the Castle Saunderson

Demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

, where the river enters a narrow channel of Upper Lough Erne. The castle is about a half a mile west from

Wattlebridge Wattlebridge (Irish: ''Droichead na nGad'' Logainm.ie: Droichead na nGad / Wattlebridge. https://www.logainm.ie/en/130664), sometimes written as Wattle Bridge, is a small hamlet in the south-south-east of County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. ''D ...

, a small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the south-south-east of

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...

. The Castle Saunderson International Scouting Centre is a

Scouting Ireland Scouting Ireland ( ga, Gasóga na hÉireann) is one of the largest youth movements on the island of Ireland, a voluntary educational movement for young people with over 45,000 members, including over 11,000 adult volunteers . Of the 750,000 peo ...

facility, opened in 2012 within the grounds of the castle. The centre provides indoor accommodation and campsites covering . It is open to

Scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

year round, as well as to non-Scouts for most of the year. It currently acts as a World Scouting Centre for the Scouts, alongside Cairo International Scout Centre in Egypt and others.

History

Family home

The Saunderson family acquired the original

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

during the

Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation (''plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the sett ...

. The original castle was inhabited by the O'Reillys of Breffni and was formerly known as Breffni Castle from the 14th century. Robert Sanderson, who fought on the side of William of Orange, inherited the castle from his father in 1676. James II's troops burned the castle in 1689. Months later, 400 of King James's soldiers were ambushed here while on retreat from the battle at

Newtownbutler Newtownbutler or Newtown Butler is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the southeast corner of the county, near Lough Erne, the border with County Monaghan, and the town of Clones. It is surrounded by small lakes and ...

. They were driven toward the Finn River and many drowned.Information sign outside the caste, 2018 The present castle dates to 1840 and was destroyed by fire in 1990. A notable member of the family born there was

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Edward James Saunderson Colonel Edward James Saunderson (1 October 183721 October 1906) was an Anglo-Irish landowner and prominent Irish unionist politician. He led the Irish Unionist Alliance between 1891 and 1906. Early life Saunderson was born at the family seat ...

, a founder of the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

, and the castle hosted

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

events celebrating

The Twelfth The Twelfth (also called Orangemen's Day) is an Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It began in the late 18th century in Ulster. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution (1688) and victory of Protestant King William III of England, W ...

. Major Frederick John Sandys Lindesay of Loughry and Tullyhogue died there while a guest in 1877. The Hon. Barry Maxwell, eldest son and

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

of The 10th Baron Farnham, died in a cycling accident on the estate in 1879. The last Saunderson who owned the castle was Edward's grandson, Captain Alexander "Sandy" Saunderson. He was a prisoner of war during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was later present at the War Tribunal at Nuremberg as the legal advisor to Lord Justice Lawrence. He sold the property to a businessman in 1977. He had planned to use it as a residence, but this never transpired. It later served as a hotel, but was damaged by fire, the third fire to occur at the castle. The Castle Saunderson

, currently only , has entrances in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. The demesne includes a church with crypt and family graveyard.

International Scout Centre

In 1997 the castle and its grounds were acquired by

Scouting Ireland (CSI) The Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland (CBSI; ga, Gasóga Caitliceacha na hÉireann) was an Irish Catholic Scouting organisation active from 1927 until 2004, when it formed Scouting Ireland by merging with the former Scout Association of Ireland ( ...

. The subsequent formation of

, and financial difficulties, delayed its development, and put the campsite project in doubt. With support from the

American Ireland Fund The American Ireland Fund (DBA The Ireland Funds America), is a tax-exempt organization incorporated under the laws of the United States and has been determined by the IRS to be a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, ...

and

Cavan County Council Cavan County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae an Chabháin) is the authority responsible for Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government in County Cavan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the L ...

, substantial progress occurred, with the announcement in November 2008 of EU funding for the project, amounting to over €3 million.

His Excellency Excellency is an honorific style (manner of address), style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder ...

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national politics throug ...

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

, opened the €3.7 million European-funded Castle Saunderson International Scouting Centre in

on 18 August 2012. The President was joined by dignitaries from both sides of the Border, including

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the ter ...

Ministers Jonathan Bell,

Nelson McCausland Nelson McCausland (born 15 August 1951) is a former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician from Northern Ireland, who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Belfast from 2003 until he lost his seat in 2017. and ...

and Jennifer McCann, and Minister of State in the Republic, Fergus O’Dowd. In February 2015, Minister

Heather Humphreys Heather Humphreys (born 14 May 1963) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Rural and Community Development and Minister for Social Protection since June 2020. She also briefly served as Minister for Justice in November ...

announced the approval of the restoration by

Waterways Ireland Waterways Ireland ( ga, Uiscebhealaí Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''Watterweys Airlann'') is one of the six all-Ireland North/South implementation bodies established under the Belfast Agreement in 1999. It is responsible for the management, mainten ...

of a canal, part of the

Ulster Canal The Ulster Canal is a canal running through part of County Armagh, County Tyrone and County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland and County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The Ulster Canal was built between 1825 and 1842 and was 74 km (46&nb ...

, connecting the site to the Erne basin. The site delivers programmes which complement the Messenger of Peace Award. The first camp chief of Castle Saunderson is local Fermanagh Scouter Tony Smith. The centre has been used by the

Health Service Executive The Health Service Executive (HSE) ( ga, Feidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte) is the publicly funded healthcare system in Ireland, responsible for the provision of health and personal social services. It came into operation on 1 January 2005 ...

as a mass testing centre during the COVID-19 outbreak in Ireland.

References

External links

Castle Saunderson International Scout Centre official website
{{authority control Saunderson Houses in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in County Cavan Country houses in Ireland Campsites of Scouting Ireland Scout Activity Centres in Ireland