JOYCEAN PICS 2008
Dunluce Castle
Contents of This Page


  Dunluce Castle
  
  
CONTENTS 2008
   1  Tours IJJF Symposium 2008: "Re-Nascent Joyce"
   2  Tours and Joyce
   3  Tours: miscellanea
   4  La Maison du Vouvray
   5  Boat Trip down the Loire
   6  Chateau Royal or the Da Vinci Court, Amboise
   7  Paris and Joyce
   8  Paris: miscellanea
   9  Mont-Saint-Michel
  10  Dublin, Jew and Joyce: "Jublin"
  11  Dublin: miscellanea
  12  Athlone
  13  Clonmacnoise (Cluain Mhic Nois)
  14  Belfast: "You Are Now Entering Loyalist Sandy Row"
  15  Carrickfergus Castle
  16  The Hurry Head, East Antrim (Co. Antrim)
  17  Carrick-a-Rede
  18  The Old Bushmills Distillery Co. Ltd.
  19  Dunluce Castle
  20  The Giant's Causeway
  21  Seoul JJSK Conference 2008
  22  Seoul: miscellanea 2008

Dunluce Castle
24 June 2008


  Dunluce Castle, (Dun Lios in Irish) literally translated as the "Hill of the Fairy Fort," is the largest ruin of a medieval castle in Northern Ireland.  It is located on the edge of a basalt outcropping in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and is accessible via a bridge connecting it to the mainland.  It is between Portballintrae and Portrush or, for tourists, between the Old Bushmills Distillery Co. Ltd. and the Giant's Causeway.  The castle is dramatically surrounded by terrifyingly steep drops either side, which would have been a very important factor to the early Christians and Vikings who were drawn to this place where an early Irish fort once stood.  It is a State Care Historic Monument sited in the townland of Dunluce, in Coleraine Borough Council area, at gridsd [Grid-based architecture for Sensor Dispatching] ref: C9048 4137.  The earthworks (adjacent to Dunluce Castle) are a Scheduled Historic Monument, at grid ref: area of C905 412.  
  In the 1200s Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, built the first castle at Dunluce.  It is first documented in the hands of the MacQuillin family in 1513.  The earliest features of the castle are two large drum towers about 9 meters in diameter on the eastern side, both relics of a stronghold built here by the MacQuillins after they became lords of the district, the chieftan of which was known as Lord of the Route, in the late fourteenth century.  Later it became the home of the chief of the Clan MacDonnell of Antrim and the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg from Scotland.  Chief John Mor MacDonald was the second son of Good John of Islay, Lord of the Isles, 6th chief of Clan Donald in Scotland.  John Mor MacDonald was born through John of Islays second marriage to Princess Margaret Stewart, daughter of King Robert II of Scotland.  In 1584, on the death of James MacDonald the 6th chief of the Clan MacDonald of Antrim and Dunnyveg, the Antrim Glens were seized by one of his younger brothers called Somerled or Sorley Boy MacDonnell known also as Sorley Buy.  Sorley took the castle keeping it for himself and improving it in the Scottish style.  Sorley Buy swore allegiance to James IV of Scotland and his son Ranald was made Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim by Queen Elizabeth.  Four years later, the Girona, a galleass from the Spanish Armada was wrecked in a storm on the rocks nearby.  The cannon from the ship were installed in the gatehouses and the rest of the cargo sold, the funds used to restore the castle.  MacDonnell's granddaughter Rose was born in the castle in 1613.  
  Dunluce Castle served as the seat for the Earl of Antrim until the impoverishment of the MacDonnells in 1690, following the Battle of the Boyne.  Since that time, the castle has deteriorated and parts were scavenged to serve as materials for nearby buildings.  It is now in the care of the Environment and Heritage Service.
  The castle appeared on the inner cover of the multi-million selling Led Zeppelin album Houses of the Holy (1973) with the outer cover photo taken at the Giant's Causeway featuring two naked siblings.  Keanu Reeves character makes reference to this in the hit comedy film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) when they travel back in time to meet Socrates.  The castle also appeared in Jackie Chan's - The Medallion (2001) when it provided an exterior setting for the "villains lair."  (Referred to the site of Wikipedia.)

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Dunluce Castle
      Dunluce Castle, 87 Dunluce Road, Bushmills, County Antrim, BT57 8UY Northern Ireland.  Between the Old Bushmills Distillery Co. Ltd. and the Giant's Causeway.
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 (Tuesday 24 June) Dunluce Castle, 87 Dunluce Road, Bushmills, County Antrim
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 (Tuesday 24 June) Dunluce Castle, 87 Dunluce Road, Bushmills, County Antrim
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 (Tuesday 24 June) Dunluce Castle, 87 Dunluce Road, Bushmills, County Antrim




        


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