Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB05/14/039

Address :
Dunineny Castle Ruins Clare Road Ballycastle Co Antrim

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Castle

Former Use
Castle

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
Yes

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
8/8 NW

IG Ref:
D1138 4190

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Owner Category

Central Govt

Exterior Description And Setting

Meagre basalt wall remains of Dunineny Castle on cliff top promontory. Dunineny Castle was built on a triangular piece of ground on a cliff top overlooking Rathlin Sound at a place called Castle Point. Little remains of the castle but 2 stumps of basalt masonry which may have formed turrets on each side of entrance. A moat or ditch separates the triangular platform of land on which the castle was built. At present some repair work is being carried out to prevent further loss of the diminished ruins.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

The O.S. Memoirs gives a good description of the ruins as they were at the time of the first Ordnance Survey. From that account there is much less remaining now. Certainly no apartment or vestige of an apartment can be discerned. Who first established a castle here is uncertain but the McQuillans, the McDonnells and the McGregors at various times were in occupation. Mullory and McNeill in The Archaeology of Ulster suggest that the McDonnells built a number of small castles along the north Antrim coast to consolidate their expansion and quell the McQuillans. Dunineny Castle was one of these. This is a scheduled monument and a more detailed discussion can be found under the following refence in the Mounuments and Buildings Record at EHS's offices at Hill Street in Belfast: SMR No. Ant 4:1 References Primary Sources 1. O.S. Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of Co Antrim IX 1830-2, 1835, 1838-9 Ed by Angelique Day, Patrick McWilliams and Noirin Dobson p. 122. Secondary Sources 1. Mallory & McNeill, The Archaeology of Ulster p. 301.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Not listed

Historic Interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Interesting archaeological ruins of mediaeval North Antrim coast castle probably built by the McDonnells in their struggle to consolidate their power over the McQuillans. It is considered more appropriate however to protect this structure by scheduling rather than listing.

General Comments

Date of Survey

24 September 2000