Dunluce Castle ~ Revisited

The Mermaids cave that is under the middle of the castle.

We were there at low tide and walked down the grassy hill to the right of the castle to the ocean to explore the shore made of limestone.

It is believed that the castle was built or (possibly) rebuilt by Richard de Burgh or one of his chief followers during the Anglo Norman period in Ireland. The site certainly was occupied as a fort before this time, a south terrain exists on the outcrop under one of the towers. The most colorful occupier of Dunluce Castle was Sorley Boy MacDonnell, a Scottish chieftain whose clan established their dominance along the north coast in the mid 1500s.

In 1639, while the second Earl and his Countess were there, part of the castle including the kitchens fell into the sea; seven cooks went with the kitchen but an itinerant cobbler was said to have survived in a corner of the vanished room. The Earl re-occupied Dunluce Castle after 1666 and lived there until his death in 1683. Oliver Plunkett, the Archbishop of Armagh who had at the time been recently canonized, was a visitor during this period and described it as a 'palace washed on all sides by the sea'.

More history can be read at the Dunluce Castle website.  Click HERE