On a basalt spur battered by the ocean, in north Antrim, Dunluce Castle offers one of the most spectacular silhouettes in Ireland. The heart of the power of the MacDonnells — the Scottish clan of the Glens of Antrim —, this fortress embodies the Gaelic-Scottish power facing the Tudor Crown, then its integration into the aristocracy of the Plantation.
The stronghold of the MacDonnells
Dunluce was, in the sixteenth century, the seat of the MacDonnells, a clan of Scottish origin (the MacDonalds of the Isles) settled on the north coast of Antrim, in the 'Glens'. These Gaels of Scotland, astride both shores of the North Channel, formed a power apart, often in conflict with the Tudor Crown, which looked askance at these Scottish 'strangers' holding a portion of Ulster. Sorley Boy MacDonnell (c. 1512-1590), a legendary figure of the clan, was its constable; the castle was disputed, taken by Sir John Perrot in 1584, returned to Sorley Boy in 1586.
From resistance to integration
The destiny of the MacDonnells illustrates the great turning of Ulster. Sorley Boy's son, Randal MacDonnell, knew how to negotiate the turn: rallied to the Crown, he became 1st Earl of Antrim and married an Englishwoman, Catherine Manners — passing from the status of rebel Gaelic-Scottish chief to that of a peer of the realm, integrated into the aristocracy of the Plantation. Dunluce, embellished with Renaissance lodgings, became the house of a great Anglo-Irish lord. The castle thus illustrates how some Gaelic dynasties survived, not by resistance, but by adaptation. To see: the entrance gate (cannon recovered from the Armada), the Renaissance lodgings, the bridge to the spur, the view over the ocean and the 'lost town' of Dunluce.
Did you know?
Around 1634, part of Dunluce literally collapsed into the sea: the kitchen wing, built too close to the edge of the cliff, toppled into the ocean during a storm, carrying off, tradition says, several servants. Lady Catherine Manners, the earl's English wife, thereafter refused to live there any longer. The spectacular fortress, perched on its rock, was also its own threat: to defy the ocean too much was to end by falling into it.
Notes
Dunluce Castle lies on the north coast between Portballintrae and Portrush, County Antrim; a ruin run by the NI heritage bodies, open to visits. Hours to check.
Quiz
- Which clan held Dunluce?
- The MacDonnells (Scots of the Glens of Antrim)
- The Maguires
- The O'Neills
- What did Randal MacDonnell become?
- 1st Earl of Antrim (integrated into the aristocracy)
- King of Scotland
- A simple farmer
- What happened to the castle around 1634?
- The kitchen wing collapsed into the sea
- It was razed by cannon
- It became an abbey