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Antrim Castle is a seventeenth-century post-medieval fortification located in the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Built during a period of significant European castle design innovation, it represents the transition from medieval stronghold to Early Modern military architecture. The castle sits on bedrock of Palaeogene extrusive rocks, part of the ancient volcanic landscape that underlies much of north-eastern Ireland, formed from mafic lava and tuff deposits dating back approximately 60 million years.
The castle's construction reflects the strategic importance of Antrim's location and the needs of its contemporary garrison. Post-medieval fortifications of this type typically incorporated lower, broader bastions and gun emplacements designed to withstand cannon fire, a significant departure from the high walls of earlier castles. The site's geological foundation of volcanic rock provided a stable base for substantial masonry work, though the mafic stone composition would have presented particular challenges to builders and stonemasons of the period.
Antrim Castle is protected as a scheduled monument by the Historic Environment Division (reference 3609), ensuring its preservation for future generations. The monument remains an important record of seventeenth-century military engineering and the architectural responses to changing warfare technology during the Early Modern period in Ireland.
Antrim castle. c17th castle is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 3609. View the official record →
Antrim Castle is a seventeenth-century post-medieval fortification located in the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 3609.
Antrim castle. c17th castle dates from the post-med period, and is classified as a fortification. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Antrim castle. c17th castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 3609.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Killede, killelagh, dalnach?. church & bullaun (6.3 km), Rath (6.4 km), Mound - motte? (7.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Antrim castle. c17th castle's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Antrim castle. c17th castle stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.