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McQuillan's Castle is a motte and bailey castle located near Ballymena in County Antrim. The monument comprises the characteristic two-part defensive structure typical of medieval castles built in the 12th and 13th centuries. The motte, an artificial mound of earth and stone, would originally have supported a timber or stone tower serving as both stronghold and residence, whilst the bailey formed an adjoining defended courtyard for domestic and military purposes.
The castle sits upon bedrock composed of Palaeogene extrusive rocks, ancient mafic lavas and tuffs that underlie much of the area. This volcanic geology would have provided a stable foundation for the earthworks, though the builders would have had to work with locally available materials to raise the substantial mound. The site commands views across its surrounding landscape, positioning it to control movement through the region in medieval times.
McQuillan's Castle is protected as a scheduled monument by the Historic Environment Division of Northern Ireland under reference 2553. Such monuments represent important evidence of the settlement patterns and defensive strategies employed during the medieval period in Ulster, revealing how Norman and Gaelic lordships organised their territories and power structures across the Irish landscape.
Mcquillan's castle. motte and bailey is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 2553. View the official record →
McQuillan's Castle is a motte and bailey castle located near Ballymena in County Antrim. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 2553.
Mcquillan's castle. motte and bailey dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a motte & bailey. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Mcquillan's castle. motte and bailey 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 2553.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Church (0.5 km), Galgorm castle. c17th house & bawn (0.5 km), Megalithic tomb (1.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Mcquillan's castle. motte and bailey'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.
Mcquillan's castle. motte and bailey stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.