Sir Edward Blayney constructed this impressive defensive structure after 1612 on lands he’d been granted in Cremonrne barony at Ballylurgan, also known as Ballifort. The location offers commanding views across the landscape, a strategic choice that would have provided both security and status for this Plantation-era settlement.

Contemporary accounts paint a vivid picture of Blayney’s ambitious building project. He erected a substantial bawn; a defensive stone wall standing 18 feet high and built with lime and stone. The fortification was well-designed, featuring flanking bulwarks for defence and incorporating several structures into its corners. The bawn included a fine gatehouse and two additional stone houses built into two of its corners, each containing two or three rooms complete with chimneys. Within the protective walls of the bawn, Blayney constructed what was described as a ‘fayre and spacious house’, creating a fortified complex that served both residential and defensive purposes.

Whilst the exact location of these original structures remains uncertain, historical records suggest they stood near the site of a later house built in 1799. According to Coote’s 1801 account, this new house was constructed contiguous to the old one, providing a tantalising clue to where Blayney’s fortified settlement once dominated this corner of County Monaghan. Today, the site represents an important piece of Ulster’s Plantation history, when English and Scottish settlers like Blayney established new settlements across the province, leaving their mark on both the landscape and the region’s complex heritage.