The power of the Norman lordship never extended far inland from the coast in this region. The ‘Bailiwick of Twescard’ which had once extended from Greencastle in Co Donegal to the Glens of Antrim had contracted by 1333 to the town of Coleraine and the Bush valley to the east. By the 1460’s the De Mandevilles had abandoned or sold their remaining manors to the MacQuillan’s. They renamed the area An Rúta (the Route) and constructed their power base at Dunluce.
Dunluce today, is a dramatic ruin perched high on costal rocks with a classic skyline which is one of the key tourism images of Northern Ireland. Though the ‘Dun’ part of its name and a souterrain (underground passage) suggest early occupation, and though there are C13th and C14th records of a manor here, all architectural and documentary evidence suggest a construction date of c.1500 for the earliest visible parts of the castle. These are the circular NE and SE towers with the curtain wall between. The MacDonnell’s captured the castle in the 1550’s and the gate house with its Scottish corbeled bartizans dates from that time.
Dunluce today, is a dramatic ruin perched high on costal rocks with a classic skyline which is one of the key tourism images of Northern Ireland. Though the ‘Dun’ part of its name and a souterrain (underground passage) suggest early occupation, and though there are C13th and C14th records of a manor here, all architectural and documentary evidence suggest a construction date of c.1500 for the earliest visible parts of the castle. These are the circular NE and SE towers with the curtain wall between. The MacDonnell’s captured the castle in the 1550’s and the gate house with its Scottish corbeled bartizans dates from that time.
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