 The rebel leader Phelim O'Neill captured and burnt Strabane Castle and took him, his mother, and his siblings prisoners.Phelim brought them to his castle in Kinard but then released them after some days and sent them to his uncle Sir George.In 1649, when he was about 16, during the Irish Confederate Wars, Strabane Castle was attacked again, this time by Robert Monro and his Covenanter army.