Castles and forts in County Down
The Discover Alone map has 103 castles and forts in County Down, Ireland. Below are the 60 with the most written about them, pictures first. Every one has its own page with directions and places nearby.
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UNCERTAIN: CASTLE COMMOGUE in GowardUNCERTAIN: CASTLE COMMOGUEUncertainty itself has taken up residence in Goward, wearing the shape of a castle and refusing to be named. The…
TOWER-HOUSE: STRANGFORD CASTLE in Strangford LowerTOWER-HOUSE: STRANGFORD CASTLEStrangford Castle stands as a late medieval tower house in Strangford Lower, preserved under State Care. Its stones…
TOWER-HOUSE: RINGHADDY CASTLE in RinghaddyTOWER-HOUSE: RINGHADDY CASTLERinghaddy Castle stands in County Down as a late medieval tower house, its stones still holding the shape of hands that…
TOWER-HOUSE: RATHFRILAND CASTLE in RossconorTOWER-HOUSE: RATHFRILAND CASTLERathfriland Castle stands in Rossconor as a late-medieval tower house, its stones still marking the boundary between…
TOWER-HOUSE: QUOILE CASTLE in QuoileTOWER-HOUSE: QUOILE CASTLEQuoile Castle stood as a sixteen-century tower-house in County Down, its stones guarding local memory before ruin…
TOWER-HOUSE: PORTAFERRY CASTLE in Ballyphilip; PortaferryTOWER-HOUSE: PORTAFERRY CASTLEPortaferry Castle is a small tower house in Ballyphilip, Portaferry, County Down, built in the 16th century by William…
TOWER-HOUSE; MERCHANTS STORES; C18th CASTLE: HORN CASTLE or NEWARK or ARDGLASS CASTLE in ArdglassTOWER-HOUSE; MERCHANTS STORES; C18th CASTLE: HORN CASTLE or NEWARK or ARDGLASS CASTLEArdglass castle wears three names like a man changing coats: Horn, Newark, Ardglass. Tower-house bones from the late…
TOWER-HOUSE: MARGARET'S CASTLE in ArdglassTOWER-HOUSE: MARGARET'S CASTLEMargaret's Castle in Ardglass, County Down, stands as a late medieval tower house, its stones marked for protection…
TOWER-HOUSE: KING'S CASTLE in ArdglassTOWER-HOUSE: KING'S CASTLEArdglass still shadows the tower-house that kings claimed, though time has blurred the exact moment it rose. The stone…
TOWER-HOUSE: JORDAN'S CASTLE in ArdglassTOWER-HOUSE: JORDAN'S CASTLEJordan's Castle in Ardglass, County Down, is a late medieval tower-house preserved in State Care. Its map point marks…
TOWER-HOUSE: DROMORE CASTLE in DromoreTOWER-HOUSE: DROMORE CASTLEDromore Castle stood as a fortified tower-house during the post-medieval and seventeenth centuries, dominating the…
TOWER-HOUSE: CASTLE DORRAS; CASTLE DERRAS in Demesne OF Down; DownpatrickTOWER-HOUSE: CASTLE DORRAS; CASTLE DERRASCastle Dorras rose as a tall stone guard on the Downpatrick downs, watching the coast and fields below during the late…
TOWER-HOUSE & C13th COFFIN LID: KILCLIEF CASTLE in KilcliefTOWER-HOUSE & C13th COFFIN LID: KILCLIEF CASTLEKilclief Castle stands in County Down as a medieval tower-house preserving a thirteenth-century coffin lid, suggesting…
TOWER-HOUSE, BAWN & PASSAGE TO SPRING: SKETRICK CASTLE in Sketrick IslandTOWER-HOUSE, BAWN & PASSAGE TO SPRING: SKETRICK CASTLESketrick Castle stands as a late-medieval tower-house on Sketrick Island in County Down, Ireland. Its bawn and passage…
TOWER-HOUSE; BAWN and 2 C13th COFFIN LIDS: WALSHESTOWN CASTLE in WalshestownTOWER-HOUSE; BAWN and 2 C13th COFFIN LIDS: WALSHESTOWN CASTLEWalshestown Castle in County Down preserves a medieval tower-house, bawn and two thirteenth-century coffin lids. Its…
TOWER-HOUSE: BAGENAL'S CASTLE in NewryTOWER-HOUSE: BAGENAL'S CASTLEBagenal's Castle in Newry, County Down, rises as a scheduled tower-house from the fifteenth or sixteenth century…
TOWER-HOUSE AND BAWN: MAHEE ISLAND in Mahee IslandTOWER-HOUSE AND BAWN: MAHEE ISLANDMahee Island in County Down holds a post-medieval tower-house and bawn, still standing under State Care and Scheduled…
Strangford CastleCastleStrangford Castle stands as a small late 16th-century tower-house in County Down, though a blocked 15th-century door…
Seaforde HouseCastleSeaforde House is a three-storey neo-classical sandstone mansion built between 1816 and 1820 for Colonel Matthew Forde…
RATH & TOWER-HOUSE: CASTLESKREEN TOWER HOUSE in CastleskreenRATH & TOWER-HOUSE: CASTLESKREEN TOWER HOUSECastleskreen Tower House stands in County Down as a rare survival where an ancient rath meets a late-medieval tower…
Quintin CastleCastleQuintin Castle is a rare surviving Anglo-Norman fortress in County Down, built in 1184 by John de Courcey and still…
Portaferry CastleCastlePortaferry Castle is a 15th- or 16th-century tower-house built by the Savage family on the slope overlooking Portaferry…
PLANTATION HOUSE & BAWN: THE COURT in HillhallPLANTATION HOUSE & BAWN: THE COURTThe Court stands as a scheduled plantation house and bawn in Hillhall, County Down, preserving the shape of a…
PLANTATION HOUSE & BAWN in InishargyPLANTATION HOUSE & BAWNInishargy in County Down held a Post-Medieval and 17th-century plantation house surrounded by a protective bawn. The…
PLANTATION HOUSE & BAWN: CASTLE GARDENS in NewtownardsPLANTATION HOUSE & BAWN: CASTLE GARDENSCastle Gardens in Newtownards holds a scheduled seventeenth-century plantation house and bawn, marking the…Nut Grove HouseCastleNut Grove House stands in County Down, Ireland, recorded as a castle though no further detail survives. The name…
NATURAL FEATURE: PIERCE'S CASTLE in LeitrimNATURAL FEATURE: PIERCE'S CASTLEPierce's Castle in Leitrim defies its own name, for no stone tower or human hand built the ridge where the land still…
Narrow Water CastleCastleNarrow Water Castle stands beside the A2 road where the Clanrye River joins Carlingford Lough, marking a border that…
MOTTE & BAILEY AND TOWER-HOUSE: CLOUGH CASTLE in CloughMOTTE & BAILEY AND TOWER-HOUSE: CLOUGH CASTLEClough Castle in County Down, Ireland, is a medieval motte and bailey later joined by a tower-house, still visible…
MOTTE AND BAILEY WITH LATER TOWER-HOUSE: CASTLE HILL in ArdkeenMOTTE AND BAILEY WITH LATER TOWER-HOUSE: CASTLE HILLCastle Hill in Ardkeen, County Down, is a medieval motte and bailey later improved with a tower-house, still visible…
Moorish TowerCastleMoorish Tower is a castle in County Down, Ireland. Perhaps its stones still hold the shape of hands that built it…
Mahee CastleCastleMahee Castle stands ruined on Mahee Island beside Comber, a small rectangular tower said to have been built in 1570 by…
Kirkistown CastleCastleRoland Savage built Kirkistown Castle in 1622 beside a ninth-century round tower, creating a three-storey house that…
KILLYLEAGH CASTLEKILLYLEAGH CASTLE — multiperiod castle on site of MotteKillyleagh Castle stacks medieval, post-medieval and modern stone above an older motte, proving the hill has resisted…
Killyleagh CastleCastleKillyleagh Castle has stood in County Down since 1180, when Sir John de Courcy built fortifications to guard seized…
Kilclief CastleCastleKilclief Castle stands in County Down, a castle whose name and form have survived while much of its history has not.…
Jordan's CastleCastleJordan's Castle is a tower house in Ardglass, County Down, built to watch the harbour and survive siege. Simon Jordan…
Ice HouseCastleIce House is a castle in County Down, a place where human life may have turned cooling stones into a game of patience.…
Hillsborough CastleCastleHillsborough Castle stands in County Down, its name preserved in open mapping while the lived history behind the stones…
Grey Abbey HouseCastleGrey Abbey House stands as a castle in County Down, its name hinting at the grey robes and quiet discipline of the…
Gilford CastleCastleGilford Castle rose in the early 1870s for Benjamin Dickson, replacing an older fortress tied to the first proprietors…
FORTIFIED HOUSE & BAWN: THE WHITE HOUSE in BallyspurgeFORTIFIED HOUSE & BAWN: THE WHITE HOUSEWhite House in Ballyspurge, County Down, is a fortified house and bawn recorded from the post-medieval and…
FORTIFICATION: TREVORS CASTLE (unlocated) in RosstrevorFORTIFICATION: TREVORS CASTLE (unlocated)Rosstrevor in County Down carried a castle in the seventeenth century, though no wall, gate or room has reappeared to…
FORTIFICATION (site of): MOUNT ALEXANDER CASTLE in Mount AlexanderFORTIFICATION (site of): MOUNT ALEXANDER CASTLEMount Alexander Castle left no visible ruin, only a hidden fortification site buried beneath the ground of County Down.…
FORTIFICATION: McCARTAN'S CASTLE (unlocated) in MagheratimpanyFORTIFICATION: McCARTAN'S CASTLE (unlocated)McCartan's castle vanished before records arrived, leaving only a name and a boundary in Magheratimpany. Perhaps it…
FORTIFICATION: MACCOURTNEY'S CASTLE in Ballykinler UpperFORTIFICATION: MACCOURTNEY'S CASTLEMaccourtney's Castle in Ballykinler Upper remains an uncertain fortification, stripped of dates but preserved in name.…
EPISCOPAL MANOR HOUSE & POSSIBLE SITE OF LATER BAWN: THE ABBACY in ArdquinEPISCOPAL MANOR HOUSE & POSSIBLE SITE OF LATER BAWN: THE ABBACYThe Abbacy in Ardquin stands as a scheduled episcopal manor house, possibly marking the later bawn, with roots…
DUNDRUM CASTLE in DundrumDUNDRUM CASTLEDundrum Castle stands in County Down as a medieval to post-medieval ruin under State Care. Its stones have watched the…
Dunbarton HouseCastleDunbarton House stands as a castle in County Down, Ireland. Its stones mark the landscape without warning, waiting for…
Dromore CastleCastleDromore Castle is a castle in County Down, Ireland. Perhaps its stones still hold the shape of hands that built them…
DESIGNED LANDSCAPE: CASTLE WARD in CastlewardDESIGNED LANDSCAPE: CASTLE WARDCastle Ward in County Down, Ireland, is a scheduled eighteenth-century designed landscape where human hands shaped the…
CRANNOG?: MCCRORY'S CASTLE in MagheralaganCRANNOG?: MCCRORY'S CASTLECrannog means artificial island, yet McCRory's castle still stands identified only by a question mark in the official…
Cowd CastleArchaeological placeCowd Castle stands as a small squarish tower in the medieval port of Ardglass, built of split stone rubble during the…
Conn O'Neill's Castle SiteFortConn O'Neill's Castle Site is a fort in County Down, Ireland. Perhaps the missing castle and filled fosse hide a…
Clough CastleCastleClough Castle in County Down is an Anglo-Norman earthwork castle where a large mound still stands beside a small…
CHURCH & CASTLE (remains of): ST. MARGARET'S in Demesne OF Down; DownpatrickCHURCH & CASTLE (remains of): ST. MARGARET'SSt. Margaret’s church and castle stand in ruins within the Demesne of Down at Downpatrick, a medieval and post-medieval…
Castlewellan CastleCastleCastlewellan Castle is a Scottish baronial castle built by the Annesley family between 1856 and 1858. William Burn…
CASTLE & WELL: GREENCASTLE in GreencastleCASTLE & WELL: GREENCASTLEGreencastle still holds a medieval castle and well in County Down, waiting beneath grass and memory. The stones may…
CASTLE (unlocated) in SaulCASTLE (unlocated)No wall, gate or chamber survives to mark the castle in Saul. The name floats above County Down like a rumor, neither…
CASTLE (unlocated) in Bishops CourtCASTLE (unlocated)Nobody knows which stones belonged to the castle or whether they still lie beneath Bishops Court. The name survives…