Old Crom Castle, Crom Castle Estate, Newtownbutler, Co. Fermanagh, BT92 8AP

The remains of an early 17th-century castle with later picturesque embellishments, beautifully located on the south shore of Lough Erne at the south-west part of Crom Estate. Early 19th-century additions reflect both the estate's origins and the subsequent development of the landscaped parkland.

The castle was begun in 1611 by Michael Balfour, who had been granted land by the Crown the previous year. Its site lay on the main route between the forts of Enniskillen and Belturbet. It was completed by Stephen Butler, who acquired the property in 1616. Colonel Abraham Crichton (formerly Creighton) acquired the property through marriage in 1655. By the late 1600s, the earlier bawn had been incorporated into a substantial three-storey house. The building accidentally burned down in 1764. In 1831–32, sham ruins were added to create a landscape feature.

The castle formerly consisted of a three-storey gabled house with bawn and circular flankers, all of rubble stone. Only the north gable of the house remains, set at the centre of the north wall of the bawn. The north-east flanker has a square window opening to the north-west and north-east, and several small staggered openings. There is a lancet-headed door opening with a brick head to the south-west. The north bawn wall abuts to the east and is broken by the north gable. To the left of the gable the bawn contains a Tudor-arched entrance at the centre, which advances slightly and is set within a dressed stone reveal with each alternate stone projecting, topped with a keystone. To its left is a small window opening set in a deep splayed reveal. To its right are two arrow loops with stone lintels and cills.

The gable is flanked by a half-engaged round tower to the left and a projecting section to the right. The gable has a small window with splayed reveal, stone lintel and irregular stone jack arch set to the right of centre at ground floor. The upper section projects slightly and has a rubble stone supporting arch. At upper floor, set to the left, is a large window with repaired brick lintel and dressings and a stone cill. The flanking round tower contains a window opening facing north-west. The projecting section is mostly ruinous, with a brick-infilled window set to each side at ground floor. The exposed cheeks are blank.

To the left of the gable the bawn wall is blank. The north-west flanker has two openings at ground floor and one at upper floor, facing west. It is abutted at the south by the west face of the bawn, which is aligned north-west to south-east until reaching a third circular flanker (ruinous). Immediately to the left of this flanker is a second ogee-arched entrance accessed from the lough shore by eleven stone steps. It is detailed as that to the north and has a stone-paved threshold and thick dressed entrance walls. The bawn then runs east for a brief period before running due south alongside the lough, where it terminates in a square-in-section flanker at the south-west corner. The south-facing wall is low and crenellated with particularly deep embrasures. The south-west flanker contains three tall openings to each side.

Internally, some low walls survive to foundation level but are ruinous. The gable contains a brick fire-opening at the first and second floors, that at second floor being large with curved inside walls. The round tower which abuts to the right has the remains of domed brick ceilings.

The ruin is strategically placed to the south-west of Crom Estate with good vantage points over Lough Erne. To the left of the castle is a ha-ha. The grounds contain the remains of formal gardens, now grown wild, including two ancient yew trees.