Donamon, or more correctly, Dunamon Castle ( ga, Dún Iomáin) is one of the oldest inhabited buildings in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

and stands on raised ground overlooking the

River Suck The River Suck ( ga, An tSuca ) is a river within the Shannon River Basin in Ireland, 133 km (82.5 mi) in length. It is the main tributary of the River Shannon. It meets the Shannon a kilometre south of the village of Shannonbridge. ...

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of I ...

. There was a fort here from early times (hence the name Dún Iomáin, fort of Iomán), but the first recorded reference to "Dún Iomghain" is in the

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

for the year 1154. It was the seat of the Ó Fionnachta chief of Clann Chonnmhaigh, one of the two main branches of this

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and ...

family. In 1232, Adam de Staunton fortified the site further as part of the Norman conquest, but this were retaken and demolished by the native O'Connors the following year. The rebuilt castle was occupied in 1294 by de Oddingseles. He died the following year. The de Birminghams then took over but it was again destroyed by the O'Connors and 1307 they were supplanted by a branch of the Burkes, the head of which was known as MacDavid. The MacDavid Burkes occupied it for the next 300 years. During the seventeenth century, a junior branch of the Caulfeild family came to own the castle and surrounding territory. They continued to own it throughout the

Protestant Ascendancy The ''Protestant Ascendancy'', known simply as the ''Ascendancy'', was the political, economic, and social domination of Ireland between the 17th century and the early 20th century by a minority of landowners, Protestant clergy, and members of th ...

. In late 1932, an

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

unit, under the command of

Seán McCool Seán McCool (Irish: Seán Mac Cumhaill) (died 1 May 1949) was a prominent Irish Republican and a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army. Imprisoned on numerous occasions, both North and South of the border, he embarked on a numbe ...

and Mick Price, took over Donamon Castle to set up an IRA training camp. In 1939 the

Divine Word Missionaries The Society of the Divine Word ( la, Societas Verbi Divini), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Ri ...

came to Ireland and purchased the castle from the

Irish Land Commission The Irish Land Commission was created by the British crown in 1843 to 'inquire into the occupation of the land in Ireland. The office of the commission was in Dublin Castle, and the records were, on its conclusion, deposited in the records tower t ...

. The Missionary Society constructed several new buildings to create a campus for training people before they went into the field. The Castle itself is still their home in Ireland. The training campus was managed by the

Irish Wheelchair Association The Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) is a charity in Ireland that has been working with people with physical disabilities since its foundation in 1960. It has 2,000 registered volunteers across its 32 volunteer branches. The IWA’s objective ...

as a National Holiday Centre until its closure in 2019. The Center was reopened in 2022 to house

Ukrainian refugees Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

arriving into Ireland by

Roscommon County Council Roscommon County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Ros Comáin) is the authority responsible for local government in County Roscommon, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for ho ...

with help from

Irish Aid , logo = File:Irish Aid logo.jpg , picture = File:Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Ireland).jpg , picture_caption = Iveagh House in Dublin, DFA headquarters , agency_type = , logo_caption = , company_type = , formed = ...

and Roscommon

Lions Club The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, by Melvin Jones. It is now headquarter ...

References

Castles in County Roscommon {{Roscommon-geo-stub