Castletown Eel Weir

Castletown Eel Weir, in County Tyrone is the only Eel Weir in Northern Ireland, a rare survival of vernacular domestic architecture. The Eel Weir is a scheduled monument with statute protection in recognition of its regional importance. The Eel Weir was  in danger of being lost because of its poor condition. Killeshil and Clonanesse Historical Society applied for funding from the Department of Communities and were  guided in its restoration by Maybelline Gormley, Senior Archeological Inspector with the Department for Communities Historic Environment Division.

A scheduled monument is designated for statute protection under Historic Monuments and Archeological Objects Order 1995. This means its designation is recognition of its at least regional importance.

The designation covers this three box structure, he river that moves northwards up to a main Eel Weir structure and the small stone bridge behind that crosses over the river.

This Eel Weir was a structure that provided domestic food stuffs for the occupants of the Bawn House and Barn Domain and as such it’s an important survival of vernacular life from the 17th 18th 19th centuries. The advantage of scheduling an historic monument is that the Department then takes a proactive interest in how these sites are managed and cared for within the landscape. This site was scheduled in 2009 so we have been undertaking cyclical monitoring of it since then. Since 2009 the condition of this particular part of the monument was noted to have deteriorated through natural processes, through heavy storm waters coming through and flood waters through this small stream.

In 2015 the structure was in quite poor condition but you could still see the form of it quite clearly however, when a warden visited in early 2024 he noted quite significant deterioration where a lot of the masonry had collapsed. At that point the local historical society sought funding from the Department through Historic Environment Fund Revival Stream. The Department worked with the Historical Society to devise a scheme that would give long-term protection to this structure.

Killeeshil and Clonaneese Historical Society engaged a Conservation Engineer, Keith McCammon, local Stonemason from Crafted Stone.

Together with HED records and a slow and careful clearing to reveal how the structure was originally built traditional methods were used to rebuild the Eel Weir to its original state.

Most of the original stones were still where they fell and were reused. Only three stones had to be replaced, the middle arch stone and the left and middle floor stones which may have broken when they fell and washed away.

Historic Environment Division are delighted with how the project has turned out. The work of Killeeshil and and Clonaneese Historical Society has secured this very unusual, and quite rare, survival of vernacular domestic architecture within the landscape for generations to come.

This has been a collaboration between Central Government, a  local conservation Sonemason, the local history group, the local community along with the permissions from landowners who provided access to the Eeel Weir on theirprovate  land.

View the video of the full restoration process