Dunseverick Castle

Surrounded by the ocean on three sides, Dunseverick Castle has been a key site from ancient times right up until the 1600s. One of the great royal roads, the Ballaghmore, ran from Tara in County Meath (seat of the high king of Ireland) to this area and connected both Lissanduff at Portballintrae with the stronghold of Dunseverick to Tara. The fort here was originally founded by Sobairce (1150 BC) who ruled Ireland with his brother Cermna Finn. Dunseverick was his base to rule the north, the name is an anglicized interpretation of his name - Dunsobairce (Fortress of Sobairce). You will find several heroes of Irish legends to have a link to this area including Cuchulain, Queen Maeve and Turlough. The fort was also significant in the kingdom of Dalriada being on the northern edge of that territory.

It was destroyed in 1642 by a Scottish army under the command of General Munro who arrived in Ulster to suppress a rebellion which started in 1641 and was led by Rory O'More, Lord Conor Maquire, Hugh MacMahon and Sir Phelim O' Neill. The conflict continued on and off until the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell arrived in Ireland in 1649 and applied a ruthless and strategic solution to conquering and controlling the country. The ruin you see today was either built by the Bisset family or rebuilt by the MacDonnell's who had established a power base along the north coast during the 1500s, their control stretched from Glenarm to Dunluce Castle and come about through the marriage of Margery Bisset to John Tan MacDonnell, Lord of the Isles.

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