Rathfriland Castle ( ga, Caislean Ráth Fraoileann) is a ruined castle at

Rathfriland Rathfriland () is a market town in County Down, Northern Ireland. History In older documents written in English, the town's name was usually spelt ''Rathfylan'' or ''Rathfrilan''.

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 the ...

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. Nort ...

. The castle was a square building of 3–4 storeys with a stone barrel vault at the first floor level to reduce the risk of fire and was one of the seats of the

Magennis Magennis ( ga, Mac Aonghusa), also spelled Maguiness, Maginnis, Magenis, McGinnis, or McGuinness, is an Celtic_onomastics#Surnames, Irish surname, meaning the "son of Angus", which in eastern Ulster was commonly pronounced in Irish as ''Mac Aong ...

's, Lords of Iveagh. Most of it was pulled down by Mr. William Hawkins of London, after the rebellion of 1641, and the remainder destroyed by General

Henry Ireton Henry Ireton ((baptised) 3 November 1611 – 26 November 1651) was an English general in the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and the son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. He died of disease outside Limerick in November 16 ...

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

's orders. The castle was mainly built from greywacke and granite. Only the southern wall remains.Rathfriland Castle, Castle Street, Rathfriland (The Natural Stone Database for Northern Ireland)
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References

{{coord, 54.2386, N, 6.1584, W, source:wikidata, display=title Castles in County Down Ruined castles in Northern Ireland