58 Old Ruins to Explore in Ulster

A majestic castle in Antrim, on the banks of the Sixmilewater River. It was erected in stages between 1613 and 1662. It was destroyed by fire in 1922 and finally demolished in the 1970s. All that remain are a slightly raised grassed platform as well as a freestanding Italian stair tower which was built in 1887 and a gatehouse, which was built around 1818 with twin neo-Tudor towers, with older connecting walls. The gardens are a popular tourist attraction on the Randalstown Road, Antrim.

Antrim Round Tower was built around the 10th century and is one of the finest towers of its kind in Ireland. It is 28 metres tall and was built as part of a Monastic settlement. It is impressive reminders of Antrim’s ancient monastic settlement. The monastic site was burned in 1147.

The Archbishop’s Palace, Armagh, Northern Ireland, is a landmark Neo-Classical building located on 300 acres of parkland just south of the centre of the city. The building served as primary residence of the Church of Ireland Archbishops of Armagh for over two hundred years, from 1770 to 1975, and thereafter as headquarters of Armagh City and District Council from then until April 2015 when that local authority was replaced following the reform of local government.

Audley's Castle lies in the grounds of the Castle Ward estate, north west of the village of Strangford, in County Down, in Northern Ireland. It is named after its late 16th-century owners, the Audleys, an Anglo-Norman family who held land in the area in the 13th century. It consists of a tower set within a yard which is enclosed by a thin wall, with a simple gate.

A very large circle of over 50 stones up to 1.8 metres high encloses a space about 35 metres across. It was possibly built as a counterpart to the circle at Swinside in Cumbria. Inside the circle is a long low partly kerbed mound lying east–west. It originally held two burial cists with cremated human remains, one at each end of the mound. The mound has similar (two end burial chambers) features to the Audleystown Court Tomb.

This fine cut-stone group of buildings was erected in 1852. It served the poor of the parishes of Templeport , Corlough, Kildallan, Drumreilly, Newtowngore, Ballinamore, Swanlinbar and part of Glangevlin. A Board of Guardians governed each union; some nominated by the Grand jury and others by the voters of the rate-payers . The Guardians levied a rate on the union and used the proceeds to support the workhouse.

A bronze age stone circle dates from circa 2100-700 BC. overlooks the now destroyed passage tomb complex at Kilmonaster and Beltany is dominated by Croghan Hill to the east on the summit of which there sits a Neolithic mound most likely a passage tomb. Today Beltany has 64 stones of varying height and width enclosing an earthen platform.

Benburb Castle was built in the 1610's by Sir Richard Wingfield during the Plantation. It was probably built on the site of an earlier stronghold of Shane O’Neill, on a cliff above a bend in the Blackwater River; the border between the counties of Tyrone and Armagh. It was then called the Wingfield Bawn. The castle has been restored and stands in the grounds of the imposing Servite Priory, a religious order based in the village.

The Penal Cross was unveiled at 5pm on Sunday 25th September 1938 to the memory of a priest shot while saying open air Mass in penal days in the dawn of a Christmas Day. The inscription on the sandstone cross reads, "To the memory of the priest who was shot here while celebrating Holy Mass on Christmas Day about the year 1754. Tradition assigns the name of Father Mc Kenna to this Martyr of the Penal Days. Erected September 1938"

One of Donegal's best known castles due to its prominent location along the Derry-Letterkenny road. It was built around 1560 and was one in a network of castles around Inishowen owned by the O’Dohertys. The structure had three stories, two circular watchtowers, a small vaulted chamber, and openings for muskets. It is now one of the iconic attraction in this area.

The Buttermarket became a unique addition to Enniskillen town almost 30 years ago, when an early 19th century dairy market was restored, and new life was injected into the cobbles in the form of a quaint, picturesque Craft Centre.It comprises of nineteen art and craft units and a coffee shop, housed in the restored early 19th century dairy market. The Buttermarket's unique position in the heart of Enniskillen makes it the central focus for the thriving craft industry in Fermanagh.

A majestic castle built in the 16th century on a rocky promontory with spectacular views of the Donegal hills and headlands, this O’Doherty stronghold stands on the site of a pre-Viking settlement recorded in the Annals. It was strategically positioned atop a rocky outcrop defending the Ó Dochartaighs' remote Isle of Doagh in the far north of Inishowen.

Castle Archdale in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland is a former estate on the shores of Lough Erne Lower, the key feature of which today is Castle Archdale Country Park. There is also a caravan park. The former estate is situated near Lisnarick and Irvinestown, in the broader hinterland of Enniskillen, and the park is owned and run by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The castle was built on a T-plan with a defensive bawn 66 ft by 64 ft and 15 ft high with flankers at each corner.

Castle Archdale in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland is a former estate on the shores of Lough Erne Lower, the key feature of which today is Castle Archdale Country Park. There is also a caravan park. The former estate is situated near Lisnarick and Irvinestown, in the broader hinterland of Enniskillen, and the park is owned and run by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The park was once an estate owned by the Archdale family, who arrived in 1614 during the Plantation of Ulster.

Monea Castle is a castle in Monea, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is a State Care Historic Monument sited in the townland of Castletown Monea, in Fermanagh District Council area. This imposing structure stood in one corner of a walled bawn with rounded corner towers, one of which subsequently served as a dovecote. The castle fell briefly into Irish hands in 1641, and was held by Gustavus Hamilton, governor of Enniskillen in 1688.

Castle Ward is a highly unusual house built in 1762-60 by an unknown architect for Bernard Ward, later 1st Viscount Bangor and his wife. Castle Ward is open to the public and includes 332 hectares (820 acres) of landscaped gardens, a fortified tower house, Victorian laundry, theatre, restaurant, shop, saw mill and a working corn mill. It has a shore on Strangford Lough.

The historic and spectacular Cathedral of Saint Patrick and Saint Felim is the most dominant building in Cavan Town. It is the seat of the Bishop of Kilmore, and the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kilmore. It was built in the years 1938 to 1942 and was one of the last huge Roman catholic cathedrals in neo classical style.

This fine stable block and coach house with its imposing Jacobean revival style facade of coursed rubble basalt and Tardree granite dressings, was built c1843 by the 10th Viscount Massereene as part of his creation of Her Ladyship’s Pleasure Gardens which necessitated the removal of the original coachyard at the rear of the Castle. It is believed to have been designed by Charles Lanyon.

Clough Castle is an 11th century Anglo-Norman motte-and-bailey castle located in Clough, County Down, Northern Ireland. It consists of a ruined tower house situated on a 7.6 metres high motte. A small crescent-shaped bailey lies next to the south-east of the motte, separated by a 2.1 metres deep ditch. The castle may have been abandoned during the early 14th century before it was rebuilt as a tower house in the 15th century.

Cloughoughter Castle is a ruined circular castle on a small island in Lough Oughter, 4 kilometres east of the town of Killeshandra in County Cavan, Ireland. It stands on a small island, scarce three hundred feet in diameter, just sufficient to contain the castle and a small margin of rock around it. The island stands in very deep water; the shores are a mile distant, wild, yet thickly wooded.