Olderfleet Castle is a four-storey

towerhouse A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

, the remains of which stand on Curran Point to the south of Larne Harbour in

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...

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 ...

. The place name of Olderfleet may be a corruption of ''Ulfrecksfiord'' (or Ulfried's Fjord), the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

name for

Larne Lough Larne Lough, historically Lough Larne (), is a sea loch or inlet in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies between the Islandmagee peninsula and the mainland. At its mouth is the town of Larne. It is designated as an area of special scientific ...

. Olderfleet Castle is a State Care Historic Monument in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

Curran and Drumaliss Curran may refer to: People * Curran (surname) * Curran Oi (born 1990), an American figure skater Material * Curran (material) Places *Curran, community in Alfred and Plantagenet, Ontario, Canada ;Northern Ireland *Curran, County Londonderry ...

, in the former

Larne Borough Council Larne Borough Council was a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymena Borough Council and Carrickfergus Borough Council in May 2015 under the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland to become Mid ...

area, at grid ref: D4133 0166.

History

The original

was possibly built by the Scoto-Irish Bissett family of

Glenarm Glenarm () is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies on the North Channel coast north of the town of Larne and the village of Ballygalley, and south of the village of Carnlough. It is situated in the civil parish of Tickmacrevan a ...

around 1250, although these remains are actually thought to be those of Curran Castle, a towerhouse built in the sixteenth century. On a 1610 map it was called Coraine Castle. In 1315

Edward Bruce Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick ( Norman French: ; mga, Edubard a Briuis; Modern Scottish Gaelic: gd, Eideard or ; – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 st ...

landed here with his 6000 strong army en route to conquer Ireland, with a welcome from the Bissetts.

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

considered the castle of such strategic importance that it was seized for the crown and

Sir Moyses Hill Sir Moyses Hill (often written as Sir Moses Hill) was an English army officer who served in Ireland and later settled in Ireland. He was the governor of Olderfleet Castle, mareschal of Carrickfergus, provost mareschal of Ulster, and represented Cou ...

appointed its governor in 1569. In 1597 the castle was claimed by the MacDonnells and in 1598 it was dismantled. The present castle was probably built about 1612. In 1621 it was granted to

Sir Arthur Chichester Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester (May 1563 – 19 February 1625; known between 1596 and 1613 as Sir Arthur Chichester), of Carrickfergus in Ireland, was an English administrator and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 160 ...

and remained in that family until leased to William Agnew in 1823.

James Chaine James Chaine (1841 – 4 May 1885) was an Irish shipping businessman and a Conservative PartyWalker, p. 249. politician from County Antrim in Ulster. The son of James Chaine of Ballycraigy and his wife, Maria (née Whittle), from Antrim, he was ...

purchased the lease in 1865. In 1938 it was taken into State Care.

Features

What remains of the four-storey towerhouse is part of the tower with pairs of gun loops in the basement. The square remains show that it only had 1 metre thick walls and it is without visible domestic features, which means that it could have been built as a fortified warehouse and watchtower.

References

{{Commons category, Olderfleet Castle Castles in County Antrim Ruined castles in Northern Ireland Larne Clan Bissett Buildings and structures in Larne Tower houses in Northern Ireland

History

Features

See also

References