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Red Bay Castle is a medieval fortification in Moyle, Northern Ireland, comprising a motte with two baileys, a tower-house, and a curtain wall. The monument also encompasses a possible site of a promontory fort, suggesting occupation or defensive use extending beyond the medieval period. The castle's strategic position and multi-phase defences indicate its importance as a power centre during the medieval era.
The castle stands on bedrock of the Red Bay Formation, composed of conglomerate and interbedded sandstone. This geological foundation would have provided a stable base for the substantial earthworks and stone structures that comprise the monument. The natural topography of the site, combined with these resistant rock formations, offered both practical advantages for construction and natural defensive qualities.
Red Bay Castle is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 1508, acknowledging its significance as a scheduled monument. The survival of its earthwork motte and associated baileys, together with structural remains of the tower-house and curtain wall, makes this site an important example of medieval military architecture in the north of Ireland, documenting centuries of fortified occupation and defence.
Red bay castle. motte, two baileys and tower-house, curtain wall & possible site of promontory fort is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 1508. View the official record →
Red Bay Castle is a medieval fortification in Moyle, Northern Ireland, comprising a motte with two baileys, a tower-house, and a curtain wall. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 1508.
Red bay castle. motte, two baileys and tower-house, curtain wall & possible site of promontory fort dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a fortification. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Red bay castle. motte, two baileys and tower-house, curtain wall & possible site of promontory fort 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 1508.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Lurigethan. multivallate promontory fort (1.6 km), Court mcmartin. castle (1.7 km), Fundamental bench mark (1.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Red bay castle. motte, two baileys and tower-house, curtain wall & possible site of promontory fort'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.
Red bay castle. motte, two baileys and tower-house, curtain wall & possible site of promontory fort stands on Red Bay Formation, bedrock that formed in the Age unknown. The rock here is conglomerate and [subequal/subordinate] sandstone, interbedded.