What is recorded here

Dunaneeny Castle, meaning fort of the assembly, stands as a ruin on a triangular cliff above Ballycastle Bay, where Sorley Boy MacDonnell was born and later died in 1590. The name itself points to the origin of the Ould Lammas Fair, begun in 1571 when public games were held for a nephew’s coming of age. From these same cliffs, Sorley Boy watched the Rathlin Island massacre and was said to be like to run mad from sorrow. Beneath the castle walls, excavations suggest the headland was first used as a late prehistoric promontory fort, long before the MacDonnells rebuilt it with English timber-frame rooms.

Dunaneeny Castle is recorded as a castle in County Antrim. Its open map record supplies this location and any linked names or public references.

Dunaneeny Castle was built in the 17th century by the MacDonnell clan, who were prominent Gaelic lords in Antrim during the early modern period. It is remembered as part of the defensive and residential architecture of the time, reflecting the clan's influence and adaptation to changing political and military conditions in Ulster.