Like many country estates in
Ulster, the first house at Crom was built by a Scottish planter in the early 17th century. In 1611, as part of the
Plantation of Ulster, Michael Balfour, the Laird of Mountwhinney, constructed a house on the lough shore opposite Inishfendra Island. Following the typical pattern for a Plantation castle, the Old Castle at Crom was built of lime and stone and enclosed within a
bawn. In 1689, the Old Crom Castle survived two Jacobite sieges during the
Williamite War in Ireland. The Creighton (or Crichton) family under
Colonel Abraham Creighton held out against the Jacobites until reinforcements from
Enniskillen arrived. The local conflict concluded at what later became known as the
Battle of Newtownbutler in July 1689, when a
Williamite force of less than 1,500 Enniskillen troops captured or killed up to 3,000 of
King James II's soldiers. The main part of the battle took place at the townland of Kilgarrett, 1 mile south of the village of
Achadh Gé or 'Newtown' (later renamed as
Newtownbutler). In 1764, the Old Castle was destroyed by a domestic fire. In 1840, the present-day Crom Castle was built, designed by English architect
Edward Blore. In 1987,
the 6th Earl of Erne (often known as Harry Erne) gave the estate to the
National Trust to manage. The castle itself remains the private property of
the 7th Earl of Erne (John Erne), but is available for hire. The Crom Estate was the location of a great classic yacht and steamboat
regatta in August 2010, when the races of the 1890s were recreated in Trial Bay using Norfolk Broads One-Designs (brown boats), Lough Erne Fairies, Fife One Designs from
Anglesey (
Welsh:
Ynys Môn), and a pair of Colleens. Races took place on Upper Lough Erne within sight of the castle, and the boats moored each evening off the boathouse in Crom Bay. Crom Castle Loyal Orange Lodge 1219 is a lodge of the
Orange Order based at the Crom Estate, occupying the former laundry. It dates back to the time of
the 4th Earl of Erne, who served as Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland from 1886 until his death in 1914. ==Boathouse==