Kilclief Castle

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Kilclief Castle

Kilclief Castle ( Irish Caisleán Chill Chléithe ) is a tower block on the banks of Strangford Lough , about 4 km south of the village of Strangford in County Down, Northern Ireland . This type of residential tower is sometimes called the "gatehouse residential tower" because it looks like a gatehouse . Kilclief Castle is one of the oldest residential towers in Lecale . The castle is a State Care Historic Monument in Town Country of Kilclief in District Newry, Morne and Down .

history

Kilclief Castle is the oldest residential tower in Lecale and was built between 1412 and 1441.

Originally John Sely lived at the castle , who is said to have built it. John Sely was Bishop of Down from 1429 to 1433 , when he was removed from office and chased away for living there with Lettice Whailey Savage , a married woman. Lettice Savage also lived in Smithing-upon-Down and collected rare pottery.

From 1601 to 1602 there was a garrison of the Crown, consisting of the commander Nicholas FitzSymon and 10 men at the castle.

Today the castle is administered by the state. A board in front of the castle informs visitors where to get a key if they want to visit the inside. There are guided tours in July and August.

construction

The residential tower has four floors. The lowest floor has a stone vault. Two protruding tourelles are attached to the tower. In the southeast there is a spiral staircase and in the northeast a row of lavatory cores , which can be reached from three of the four floors. This protruding Tour Ellen are at the level of the roof with a high Maschikulibogen connected to a discharge opening for projectiles to unwelcome visits covered. There are stepped battlements . As with Jordan's Castle , the room on the ground floor has a semicircular barrel vault with a basket-shaped center. On the second floor, the lid of a coffin from the 13th century from a nearby church was used as a lintel for the open fireplace. The double-winged window in the east wall is a modern reconstruction based on a preserved fragment.

Individual evidence

  1. Kilclief Castle . In: Environment and Heritage Service NI - State Care Historic Monuments . Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 16, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ehsni.gov.uk
  2. ^ A b B. O'Neill (editor): Irish Castles and Historic Houses . Caxton Editions, London 2002. p. 10.

swell

  • Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland: Historic Monuments of Northern Ireland . Her Majesty's Stationary Office, Belfast, 1983.
  • JP Donnelly, MM Donnelly: Downpatrick & Lecale: A Short Historical Guide . 1980.
  • Guide to National & Historic Monuments of Ireland . Harbison, P. Gill & Macmillan, Dublin 1992.
  • HG Leask: Irish Castles & Castellated Houses . 1st edition 1941. Dundalgan Press (W. Tempest) Ltd, Dundalk 1986.
  • T. McNeill: Castles in Ireland . Routledge, London 1997.
  • JF Mills: The Noble Dwellings of Ireland . Thames & Hudson, London 1987.

Web links

Commons : Kilclief Castle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 54 ° 19 '40.8 "  N , 5 ° 33' 14.4"  W.