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Toome Castle is a late medieval tower-house and bawn situated in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The fortification stands on bedrock composed of Palaeogene extrusive rocks—mafic lava and tuff formed during extensive volcanic activity in the geological past. This volcanic foundation provides a solid base for the substantial masonry structure characteristic of Irish tower-houses from the late medieval period.
The castle comprises a defensive tower-house with an associated bawn, a walled enclosure typical of Ulster fortifications built between the 14th and 17th centuries. Such structures served both as residences and strongholds for Anglo-Norman and Gaelic lords, combining domestic accommodation within the tower with livestock protection within the bawn walls. The combination of these two elements reflects the practical requirements of frontier settlements in medieval Ireland.
Toome Castle is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 2940, recognising its archaeological and historical significance as a rare surviving example of late medieval military architecture in the region. The site's location in Antrim, strategically situated within Ulster's landscape, reflects the widespread pattern of tower-house construction that characterised lordly settlement across medieval and early modern Ireland.
Toome castle. tower-house & bawn is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 2940. View the official record →
Toome Castle is a late medieval tower-house and bawn situated in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 2940.
Toome castle. tower-house & bawn dates from the late-med period, and is classified as a fortification. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Toome castle. tower-house & bawn 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 2940.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Fortified house & bawn & site of battle, 1641 (6 km), Standing stone (6.8 km), Shemy's island. crannog (6.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Toome castle. tower-house & bawn'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.
Toome castle. tower-house & bawn stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.