Greencastle / Northburgh Castle

Greencastle: Greencastle was the principal Norman castle in NW Ulster and was built by the 'Red' Earl of Ulster, Richard de Burgo, in 1305. The castle, then known as Northburgh or Newcastle, was captured by the Scots in 1316 during the invasion of Ireland by Edward Bruce. On the defeat of Bruce two years later, the castle reverted to the Earl and on his death passed to his grandson, the 'Brown' Earl. When he was murdered in 1333, the de Burgo influence in Ireland collapsed. The lordship of Inishowen finally passed to the O'Donnells in the early 15th century, and their dependants, the O'Dohertys, established themselves at Greencastle. It was considerably damaged in 1555 as a result of an internecine war among the O'Donnells, but was still wardable in 1586. Granted to Chichester, the Lord Deputy, at the time of the Plantation, it is recorded in 1611 that 'There was one hundred men's worke 20 wicks bestowede in cleeringe the ruynes of Green Castle'. Chichester maintained a small garrison there and in 1623, in a report on the repair of forts, Greencastle was described as 'fitter for a ward than Culmore'. It subsequently went into decline and was abandoned and allowed to decay (Waterman 1958, 74-5; Hunter 1975, 82). Situated on the W shore of Lough Foyle, the site encompasses a massive platform of cropping rock whose cliffs and fissured slopes on the SE and S afforded protection on these sides. The upper ward (DG022-003001-) of the castle with its massive NE polygonal tower was accommodated to this outcrop and immediately to the W is a sunken lower court and vaulted chambers; the gatehouse proper projects from the latter on the W. The castle is typically English in style and character, and in plan can be compared with the great Edwardian castle at Caernarvon in Wales. The three-storey gatehouse comprised twin polygonal gate-towers, the walls of which rise from a battered base; only the S tower is intact and is fitted with loops set in polygonal embrasures. The quoins are turned in wrought sandstone and are in sharp contrast to the dark tones of the rubble wall faces. The very weathered sandstone remains of figure carving project from the quoins at first-floor level. A vaulted passage between these towers gives access to the ground-floor chambers on the N and S, and leads to the lower court on the E. Projecting beyond the N gate-tower is a square turret of equal height, which is fitted with a spiral stairs, and latrines on the upper floors. There may have been a similar turret projecting from the S tower, and it would help explain how access was gained to the vaulted basement below the S chamber (McNeill 1980, 74); no evidence for this survives. The S chamber was considerably altered, probably c. 1611, and converted for use as a kitchen; two brick-lined ovens were built into the thickness of its E wall. The upper floors of the gatehouse were of timber carried on internal offsets. There are two embrasures with loops on the first floor of the S tower and three survive on the floor above; the S loop on this floor has a trefoil-pointed head. There was probably a similar arrangement on the upper floors of the N tower. To the rear of the gatehouse were further vaulted chambers; a secondary doorway has been broken through on the N. Due to the height of the rock outcrop the upper ward of the castle is at first-floor level of the gate-house, and the N curtain is a continuation of the N wall of the gatehouse. Only a short stretch of the S curtain remains. There is a latrine-tower on the W and another on the E; the former probably served the first floor, gatehouse apartments, and the latter the ground floor of the upper ward. There is a large polygonal tower at the NE. It is built on a subcircular battered drum which might be the remains of an earlier work. Evidence for five loops, set in polygonal embrasures, survive in the NE tower, though there was undoubtedly a sixth, now fallen away. Beside the tower on the SW are the remains of a latrine, which served the first floor of the tower. The great hall of the castle was probably along the E end of the N curtain abutting the NE tower; its position is indicated by the surviving windows in the ground and first floors of the N wall (McNeill 1980, 73). A large square, two-storey tower projects from about midway along the N wall of the castle and is clearly an addition to the curtain. The basement is unlighted and occupied by a central square pier. The first-floor chamber is entered through a small ante-chamber from the upper ward. It is lighted on three sides by loops set in narrow embrasures. There is a small mural latrine entered through the N ingoing of the embrasure in the E wall, and a blocked, circular shaft, in the floor of the W embrasure, is presumably the remains of a well. The opening for a latrine-shaft above that at first-floor level indicates that the tower may have had a third storey. The erection of this tower may be attributed to the O'Doherty occupation of the site and it probably dates to the 15th century. (For a detailed account see Waterman 1958, 74-88; McNeill 1980, 73-6). The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated. Date of upload: 22 September 2008 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 10/1971). Excavation Number 96E051 Archaeological Development Services Ltd undertook three phases of work in 1996 close to the fourteenth-century castle at Greencastle, Co. Donegal. This work was carried out in advance of a proposed chalet development and comprised (i) an archaeological site assessment, (ii) an excavation, and (iii) a watching brief. The site assessment The site assessment was carried out in March 1996 and took the form of nine long, narrow trenches located north and west of the castle. These were excavated both by machine and by hand, down either to the depth of proposed disturbance, undisturbed natural or archaeological layers, whichever was most appropriate. Only Trenches 3 and 7 produced significant archaeology. Trench 3, approximately 15m north-west of the castle, yielded a layer of cobbles and medieval pottery, possibly representing a formalised routeway into the castle. The findings from this trench suggest that the castle gatehouse was approached from the north. Trench 7, approximately 50m west of the castle, had evidence of a disturbed linear feature cutinto the subsoil. It was the recommendation of the assessment, in consultation with the OPW, that development in the area of Trench 3, close to the castle, be rerouted to avoid ground disturbance, and that the area of Trench 7, further away, be archaeologically tested prior to the chalet development proceeding. The excavation The excavation around what had been Trench 7 took place during April/ May 1996. An area of roughly 150m2 was investigated. The linear feature encountered during the site assessment turned out to be the remains of a medieval ditch, which survived in a severely truncated and disturbed condition. The ditch was tracked for a distance of 10m, running north-east/south-west across the site. It had a maximum width of 8.4m across the top and 7.2m across the base. Within the ditch, undisturbed stratigraphy survived to a maximum depth of 0.74m. The ditch cut survived most completely to the north-west, but no evidence of an internal bank or associated features survived modern damage. The ditch fills were mostly silty organic gravels, out of which were recovered sherds of both glazed and unglazed, locally produced medieval pottery, along with fragments of tile, iron, work