O Doherty’s Keep, Swans Park, Buncrana

Unique
property which served as Buncrana's founding location from around 1600.
O’Doherty's Keep is steeped in the history of Buncrana and of the O’
Doherty Clan. Its current owner has decided to pass the property on to a new
generation of guardians whom it is hoped will be sensitive to the preservation
of the location in return for being permanently written into the history of
Buncrana locally and the O’ Doherty Clan internationally.

The word
Keep was used to describe a refuge or place of last resort for
defensive purposes. The O’ Doherty Clan has a distinguished & unique
history going back to earliest records of 1208. They were lords of
Inishowen from the 1300s up to 1608 when Cahir O’ Doherty, once knighted for
his bravery, was executed for treason.

The keep was
burned in 1608 by Crown forces in reprisal for the rebellion of Sir Cahir O'
Doherty who sacked and raized the city of Derry.

After Sir
Cahir's death the Keep was granted to Sir Arthur Chichester who leased it to
Englishman Henry Vaughan. Further restoration work was carried out by the
Vaughan family who occupied the keep until 1708.

In October
1798 Wolfe Tone, the founder of Irish Republicanism, was arrested and
held in the vicinity of O'Doherty's Keep before being tried and convicted
of treason in Dublin.

It was
acquired in 1969 by local Buncrana resident Ronald H.C.O’ Doherty. The Keep is
unique and has authentic and tangible links to an historic story spanning
hundreds of years and many countries. It is a monument of identity for
many who were forced to leave Ulster over several hundred years. It is a
symbol of identity for the diaspora who left Ulster, for those who returned
home and for those who live and work in Buncrana and Inishowen.

International
descendants of the O’ Doherty Clan visit their ancestral home to reconnect with
their roots and Irish family.

The sale
this often called a ‘priceless artifact’ is sure to generate great interest and
talk both locally and internationally. Details from auctioneer.