Kirkistown Castle

Coordinates: 54°26′33″N 5°27′58″W / 54.4424°N 5.4661°W / 54.4424; -5.4661

Kirkistown Castle

Kirkistown Castle is a castle situated near Cloghy, County Down, Northern Ireland. The tower house and bawn is a state care historic monument in the townland of Kirkistown, in Borough of Ards, at grid ref: J6450 5800.[1]

It is an impressive three-storey tower house, built in 1622 by Roland Savage, a Norman landlord,[2] at the site of a ninth-century round tower. It was occupied until 1731, when it was deserted. It post-dates the Plantation, but is fully in the late medieval tower-house tradition. Parts of the bawn wall survive with three-quarter round flanker towers at the angles. The tower was remodelled in Gothic style in 1800 by a Col. Johnston, and in 1836 some further work was performed by a very young Master Montgomery of Grey Abbey. The building was left, however, with a partial roof and broken windows, and the elements soon returned it to disrepair.[3] The Northern Ireland Environment Agency opened it to the public for the first time in 2001.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kirkistown Castle" (PDF). Environment and Heritage Service NI - State Care Historic Monuments. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
  2. ↑ "Kirkistown Castle". goireland.com.
  3. ↑ "The Parish of Ardkeen". Ros Davies' Co. Down, Northern Ireland Genealogy Website.


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