Ardglass Castle (also known as The Newark) is situated in

Ardglass Ardglass () is a coastal fishing village, townland (of 321 acres) and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland, in the historic Barony (geographic), barony of Lecale Lower. It is still a relatively important fis ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

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 ...

. It was originally a row of 15th century warehouses by the harbour. Large sections of the original building can still be seen within the modern club house of Ardglass Golf Club. (Grid ref: 561 371)

History

The 15th century structures were converted into a castellated house at the end of the 18th century by

Charles FitzGerald Charles Fitzgerald ( – 29 December 1887) was an Irish officer in the Royal Navy and Governor of The Gambia from 1844 until 1847, then Governor of Western Australia from 1848 to 1855. Son of William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, Fitz ...

, the first and last Baron Lecale. The castle was also lived in by his mother,

Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster (6 October 1731 – 27 March 1814), known before 1747 as Lady Emily Lennox, from 1747 to 1761 as The Countess of Kildare and from 1761 to 1766 as The Marchioness of Kildare, was the second of the famous Lenno ...

, and her second husband, William Ogilvie, who had been tutor to her son,

Lord Edward FitzGerald Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat who abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Independence, and as an Irish Parliamentarian, to embrace the caus ...

. Ogilvie subsequently worked to develop Ardglass as a fashionable seaside resort and port. The old warehouses were given battlements, regular windows and the interior was decorated with plasterwork of the period. It was eventually inherited by William Ogilvie's daughter by a former marriage, who was the wife of Charles Beauclerk, a great grandson of

Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, KG (8 May 167010 May 1726) was an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England by his mistress Nell Gwyn. Biography On 21 December 1676, a warrant was passed for "a grant to Charles Beauclerc, the ...

. In the later 19th century there was further work on the windows and a porch added to one front. The castle became the premises of Ardglass Golf Club in 1911.

Features

The block of warehouses was built to provide 13 spaces behind the quay, guarded by towers at each end, and which it is assumed could be let out to resident or visiting merchants. The ''Dublin Penny Journal'' of 30 March 1833 describes Ardglass Castle as follows:

References

External links

Royal Irish Academy - Three Medieval Buildings in the Port of Ardglass, Co. Down By T.E. McNeill, published 15 April 2005
{{coord, 54, 15, 30, N, 5, 36, 20, W, display=title Castles in County Down Ardglass Grade B1 listed buildings Houses completed in the 15th century

History

Features

See also

References

External links