Quoile Castle is a
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
situated 1.5 miles (2.4km) from
Downpatrick
Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be th ...
,
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
, just off the main road from Downpatrick to
Strangford
Strangford (from Old Norse ''Strangr fjörðr'', meaning "strong sea-inlet") is a small village at the mouth of Strangford Lough, on the Lecale peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 475 at the 2001 Census.
On the ...
, on the east bank of the
River Quoile
The Quoile (; ) is a river in County Down, Northern Ireland.
Course
The river begins its life as the Ballynahinch River which flows from west of the town of Ballynahinch to Annacloy where it is known as the Annacloy River. This then becomes ...
. The castle was built during the late 16th / early 17th Century and was continuously used up to the 1700s.
It has been suggested that it was built by Captain Richard West. Quoile Castle is a State Care Historic Monument in the
townland
A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...
of Quoile, in
Down District Council
Down District Council was a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. It merged with Newry and Mourne District Council in April 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Newry, Mourne and Down District Cou ...
area, at grid ref: J4963 4701.
The castle is a tower house - a type of building found throughout Ireland, largely constructed from the 15th to 17th Centuries - the Stangford Lough coastline has a density of these monuments (e.g., Audley's Castle, Sketrick Castle, Mahee Castle, Portaferry Castle etc). Whilst they had defensive features, it has been suggested that they were built to withstand an attack by a
mall
Mall commonly refers to a:
* Shopping mall
* Strip mall
* Pedestrian street
* Esplanade
Mall or MALL may also refer to:
Places Shopping complexes
* The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria
* The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India
...
rival militia, rather than being able to withstand a large siege-type attacks.
Finds
In 1986, seven silver sixpence pieces dating from the time of
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Eli ...
were found at the castle.
Gallery
File:Quoile Castle.JPG,
Image:Down (095), October 2009.JPG, Quoile Castle, October 2009
Image:Down (097), October 2009.JPG, Information board, Quoile Castle, October 2009
Image:Down (096), October 2009.JPG, Quoile Castle, October 2009
See also
*
List of castles in Northern Ireland
References
External links
{{coord, 54, 20, 58.3, N, 5, 41, 59.48, W, region:GB, display=title
Castles in County Down
Ruined castles in Northern Ireland
Tower houses in Northern Ireland