Antrim Castle or Massereene Castle was a fortified mansion in Antrim,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, on the banks of the Sixmilewater River. It was built in stages between 1613 and 1662. It was destroyed by fire in 1922 and finally demolished in the 1970s. All that remain are a slightly raised grassed platform as well as a freestanding Italian stair tower built in 1887, and a gatehouse built around 1818 with twin neo-Tudor towers, with older connecting walls. The gardens are a popular tourist attraction on the Randalstown Road, Antrim.

History

Antrim Castle was built originally in 1613 by English settler, Sir Hugh Clotworthy, and enlarged in 1662 by his son,

John Clotworthy, 1st Viscount Massereene John Clotworthy, 1st Viscount Massereene (died September 1665) was a prominent Anglo-Irish politician. Origins He was the son and heir of Sir Hugh Clotworthy (died 1630), High Sheriff of Antrim (who first came to Ireland as a soldier in the Nin ...

. It was through his daughter and heiress, Mary, and her marriage to Sir John Skeffington, 4th Baronet (by special remainder he would become the 2nd Viscount Massereene), that the estate and title came to the latter family. The castle was rebuilt in 1813. In the 1680s the castle was raided by Jacobite General Richard Hamilton and his men who looted Viscount Massereene's silver plate and other silverware and furniture up to a value of £3000, a considerable loss at the time. For sometime the castle was used for political conferences; in 1806 Right Hon. John Foster, the last Speaker of the Irish House was reported to have spoken in the Oak Room of the castle at a meeting. At 3am after a small family gathering on 28 October 1922, the castle caught fire and was destroyed. Although much of the evidence pointed to

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

by the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

, the official verdict was not conclusive, thus no insurance claim was paid out. The castle remained as a ruin until its demolition in 1970. In 2022 centenary anniversary commemorations were held which included the notable historian and author Lyndsy Spence giving tours of the Castle Gardens. In December 2022 Antrim historian Stephen McCracken published definitive evidence showing that the Castle had been destroyed by the IRA citing the Irish National Archive testimonies. His evidence focused on the testimony of Kevin Sheils and IRA Commander Fitzpatrick.

Features

Antrim Castle had been rebuilt in 1813 as a three-storey Georgian-Gothic castellated mansion, designed by

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

architect, John Bowden. The

Restoration style Restoration style, also known as Carolean style from the name ''Carolus'' (Latin for 'Charles'), refers to the decorative and literary arts that became popular in England from the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 under Charles II (reigned fro ...

doorway of the original castle, featuring heraldry and a head of Charles I, was re-erected as the central feature of the entrance front. It also had tower-like projections at the corners of round angle turrets. A tall hexagonal turret of

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

was added to the front in 1887, when the castle was further enlarged. There was also a 17th-century formal garden, unique in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

. The gardens also featured a long canal with another canal at right angles to it, making a T shape, as well as a

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

of a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

castle. Jacobean-Revival outbuildings of coursed rubble basalt with sandstone dressings were built about 1840. The entrance gateway to the demesne has octagonal turrets. The stable block was later converted for use as a family residence and renamed Clotworthy House. This was acquired by Antrim Borough Council and converted for use as an Arts Centre in 1992. The formal gardens were the subject of a £6m restoration project, by Antrim Borough Council supported by the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

, to preserve the historic site. Antrim Castle Gardens won the Ulster in Bloom Special Award 2012.

References

External links

Antrim Castle at Library Ireland
{{Authority control Castles in County Antrim Grade B1 listed buildings Houses completed in 1666 1922 disestablishments in Northern Ireland Buildings and structures in the United Kingdom destroyed by arson 1666 establishments in Ireland