Dating from 1637, this tower house  and  attached three story building overlooking Bangor Harbour is the earliest building to survive in Bangor from its layout as a modern town following its granting to James Hamilton by James I in 1605.  The white rendered modern looking visitor centre is part of the original construction which is reported to have had a second tower abutting  the far gable.  These 'flankers' would probably have had conical roofs in the Scottish style, similar to the 'White House' in Newtonabbey (https://www.marksoftime.com/the-plantation.html) The unrendered gable wall behind the tower has a 'crow stepped' finish at the top, an early example of the Scottish Baronial style. Apparently the building may never have been fully completed or used as a customs house   (the mid seventeenth century wars may have got in the way). It was in ruins in 1744. Then it was converted into dwelling houses. Used by the coastguard, the battlements may have been added during the Napoleonic period when Martello towers were being constructed elsewhere. It was a photographic studio in the late nineteen century and sold to the town council in 1923.  They converted it to hot sea water baths. These closed in 1954. It was then used for an antiques business until being converted into the tourist information centre in 1982.  A very unusual and rare survivor.

In front of Bangor Caste is this sundial, clearly relocated from the medieval abby to become an object of interest. A. plaque at the base states: ' This sundial served the important monastery at Bangor. Though damaged it is a survival from the Late Early Christian period, probably the tenth to the twelfth centuries. Three main rays indicated the main daytime services at the third sixth and ninth hours but only the noon ray is now clear. An early sundial has been reconstructed at Nendrum...(illegible) ... Co Down and a third can been seen in Clougher Cathedral Co Tryone' . Given the importance of worship at set times in a monastery, the sundial was a key asset. An amazing survival, given that so little else of the abbey survives.

Bangor Castle is a large county house in the Jacobean style, set within extensive grounds adjacent to the site of the medieval Bangor Abbey. It has a date stone of 1852 and was purchased by the district council in 1941 who demolished the surrounding estate (demesne) wall and opened  the grounds to the public. In 1952, 100 years after its original construction, it became  the town hall of Bangor. It is quite a composition. On this west elevation a clock tower surmounts what appears to be a remodelled tower house and beside this the entrance door projects surrounded by elaborate stonework. Behind this, three window bays surmounted by pointy dormer and then two wide bays with gables, one of which has a projecting rectangular  window over two floors.  The other elevations overlooking the road from the town below are more formal and grand, but this one appears to  be trying suggest building of great age and development, something like the truly Jacobean extension to the medieval Donegal Castle (www.marksoftime.com/blog/258)  inside are some finely decorated rooms and stained glass. It is worth a visit.

The west window of Bangor Abbey, Co.Down.  This is over the entrance door in the tower of the building and set within a blocked up fifteenth century arch. The window is thought to date from 1693 when the top of the tower was raised or rebuilt and a steeple  added. The rest of the tower is understood to be fifteenth century. it was originally part of the  abbey on this site which was dissolved in 1542 and then burnt during an attempted colonisation of the Ards Peninsula in 1572. That abbey, founded in the 550's was of some renown and attracted students from across the world. A manuscript made here (the Bangor Antiphony) survives in Milan. Declining during the Viking period from the ninth century, it had a second period of importance during the twelfth century when St Malachy, a key reformer in the Irish church, was its abbot. in 1603, on the ascension of James I, lands including Bangor were granted to Sir James Hamilton. He had the Abbey rebuilt as a parish church between 1617 and 1623. All of this, apart from the tower, was removed in 1832, when work to extend the building resulted in the walls becoming unsafe and having to be taken down. Today, the larger than usual size of the tower relative to its church, marks it out as a structure of greater than normal antiquity. The west window, clearly very old itself, reinforces this impression as it is obviously part of an infill with smaller stones surrounding it than on the main tower. It is tempting to see the figure head at the top of the window as a fragment from the earlier building, particularly as a second headstone over the entrance door below (not on this drawing) is clearly of a  seventeen century face. However,it appears to be very much part of the design of the window, with the covering on its head billowing out to form part of the cornice of the window.  The stained glass is nineteenth century by Myer of Munich, in common with most Church of Ireland churches on the island. All in all a place of great interest and antiquity, which repays a closer look.

Finnebrogue House near Downpatrick Co Down. 

Reputedly the oldest undefended large house in Ireland with internal timbers dating to 1662, though there are musket loops in the projecting side wings to cover the entrance. The building is understated in its architecture, but with some very grand spaces inside. it was restored from near ruin to a high standard by the present owner from 2011 and sits in well kept parkland with an axial view to the estate church spire from the front door. An elegant well restored country house in beautiful surroundings.

Quintin Caste is located near the southern tip or the Ards peninsula in Co.Down. It faces onto Qunitin Bay and across the Irish Sea. Its appearance today dates from 1855 when the existing medieval tower house was significantly remodelled and extended in a dramatic fashion. This included the raising in height of the central tower, the addition of drawing and dining rooms and the rebuilding of the courtyard walls gates and towers.  The original tower house was built by John de Courcy in the Twelfth century soon after the Anglo Norman invasion. This was  renovated and a large house added in the early Seventeenth century. By the time of the Ordnance Survey Memoirs in the 1830's the building was roofless and dilapidated. Until recently the building was a private home. Proposals to convert it into a hotel were refused planning permission by the local council in April 2021

Sketrick Castle, Co Down, based upon a photograph taken before most of the structure collapsed in 1896. Some sources say that this was in a storm while others state that ‘the south-western angle fell with a great crash one calm spring day, shaking the castle and raising a tall column of white dust’. The tower is reported in an account of a 1470 battle but some have suggested that due to its size the current structure is from the 16th century.  The structure guards the approach to Sketrick island on Strangford Lough and is now a Monument in State Care.

Kilclief Castle is thought to have been built between 1413 and 1441.  Though a common date for tower houses across Ireland, it is the earliest surviving tower house in County Down. It is understood to have been built for  John Sely, bishop of Down, who lost his title in 1442 because he was living openly with a married woman (Lettice Thomas). 
The tower is very strategically located guarding the entrance  to Strangford Lough and faces south east above the shore line observing all who attempt to enter its waters. It is rectangular on plan with two projecting square fortifications to the front. These rise to stepped Irish battlements at roof level and are joined by an arch at the top floor.  
It all makes for a dramatic and picturesque monument, now in State Care, which is enhanced by a brightly painted vernacular farmhouse to one side. It is a great place to visit.

Located in County Down near the south east end of the Ards Peninsula, Kirkistown Castle is described in most sources as having been built by Roland Savage in 1622.  It is a  three story tower house, with attic, set within a partly surviving bawn wall.  It was significantly enhanced in the  nineteenth century by the embellishment of its battlements and provision of a decorative entrance.  Occupied until the beginning of the twentieth century, it  is now a Monument in State Care. 
This image is based upon a late nineteenth century photograph, before renovations were carried out to the bawn wall. These removed the buttresses and raised the wall to its original height but, perhaps, lost something of the romance of the place in the process.