Top 10 Castles in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's castle landscape is shaped by its position on the narrowest sea crossing between Ireland and Britain — the North Channel between Antrim and Scotland is only 20 kilometres at its narrowest — and by the succession of political powers that this crossing brought: Norman, Gaelic Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and finally Plantation-era Scottish and English settlers. The castles that resulted range from the finest Norman keep in Ireland to the most dramatically cliff-edged ruin in the British Isles. Find them on the map.
1. Carrickfergus Castle, County Antrim
Carrickfergus, on a basalt promontory above Belfast Lough, is the best-preserved Norman castle in Ireland. John de Courcy, the Anglo-Norman adventurer who conquered Ulster from 1177, built the first phase of the castle from approximately 1178. The keep, inner ward, and outer ward represent the 12th-13th century development of Norman castle design in Ireland. The castle was garrisoned continuously until 1928 — a record of active military use exceeded by few buildings in Ireland or Britain.
2. Dunluce Castle, County Antrim
Dunluce, on a cliff-edge promontory above the North Antrim coast near Bushmills, is the most dramatically sited castle ruin in Ireland. The castle stands on a basalt stack separated from the mainland by a narrow chasm; access was by a wooden drawbridge. The MacDonnell clan built the principal surviving structures in the 16th century; the castle was a MacQuillan stronghold before that. The kitchen reportedly fell into the sea during a storm in 1639, carrying servants with it. The Giant's Causeway is a 3-kilometre walk along the cliff path.
3. Castle Coole, County Fermanagh
Castle Coole, near Enniskillen, is not a medieval fortification but the finest Neo-classical country house in Ireland. Built from 1789-98 for the Earl of Belmore to designs by James Wyatt, it is National Trust property with unusually complete original furnishing. Its inclusion here reflects the range of the castle tradition: the "castle" in an 18th-century Irish context often meant the great house of the landowning class, not a military fortification.
4. Dundrum Castle, County Down
Dundrum, above the seaside village of Dundrum, is a circular-keep castle of the late 12th-early 13th century: one of the earliest round keeps in Ireland. John de Courcy began building here before his dispossession by Hugh de Lacy in 1205; the round keep was de Lacy's innovation, rare in Ireland at this period. The castle overlooks Dundrum Bay and the Mourne Mountains beyond.
5. Enniskillen Castle, County Fermanagh
Enniskillen Castle, on a Lough Erne island in the county town, was a Maguire clan stronghold before its capture by the English in 1607. The Maguire's Tower — a watergate tower with a distinctive witch's hat roof — and the later English barracks survive. The castle houses the Inniskillings Museum, covering the history of the Inniskilling regiment.
6. Narrow Water Castle, County Down
Narrow Water, at the mouth of the Newry River near Warrenpoint, is a well-preserved 16th-century tower house built by the English crown to control the Newry estuary. Its compact tower and bawn (enclosing wall) form is characteristic of the Ulster plantation-era defensive architecture.
7. Greencastle, County Down
Greencastle, at the mouth of Carlingford Lough, is a 13th-century castle built by Hugh de Lacy II to control the northern approach to the lough. The rectangular keep and the horseshoe-shaped enclosure are well preserved; the castle stands directly on the shore, its walls rising from the water's edge.
8. Dundonald Castle, County Down
Dundonald motte, just east of Belfast, is one of the best-preserved mottes in Ireland — a large earthen mound with the stone foundation remains of the timber tower that once crowned it. The motte represents the earliest phase of Norman castle building, before stone construction replaced earthworks.
9. Tully Castle, County Fermanagh
Tully, on the shore of Lower Lough Erne, is a plantation-era castle and bawn of 1613, built for Sir John Hume. It was sacked in the 1641 Ulster Rising, when the garrison and its dependants were massacred; the ruins have not been occupied since. The formal garden in the bawn, recently restored by the National Trust, reconstructs the original 17th-century planting.
10. Shane's Castle, County Antrim
Shane's Castle, on the northeastern shore of Lough Neagh, is a ruin of a large 18th-century country house built for the O'Neill family on the site of the O'Neill chieftains' seat. The surviving tower and the lakeside setting give it a romantic quality exploited by the Narrow Gauge Railway that runs through the grounds.
Explore on the map
Northern Ireland's castle landscape, concentrated on the Antrim coast and in the western lake district of Fermanagh, is fully represented on the interactive map. The Causeway Coastal Route combines the best coastal castles with the Giant's Causeway in a single day-drive itinerary.