Greencastle

In 1305, the Red Earl of Ulster, Richard de Burgh, established a Norman base here by building the great castle at Greencastle. This is known as Northburg, or in Irish, ‘Caislean Nua’.

In 1316, a fleet led by Edward Bruce set sail from Scotland to  invade Ireland. One of the first places they attacked was Greencastle. They succeeded in taking the castle and Bruce was crowned King of Ireland. He fell from power later that same year and the castle was returned to de Burgh. De Burgh remained in possession of Northburg until 1333, the year that Richard de Burgh’s grandson William, the Brown Earl, was murdered. With this, Norman power in the Northwest ended.

The castle later fell into the hands of the O’Dohertys. In 1555, Calvagh O’Donnell, with an army of Scots mercenaries, declared war in the region and attacked the castle with a relatively new piece of ordinance in Ireland, called the ‘gunna cam’ (crooked gun). The ruins of the castle today are a result of the use of the artillery in these attacks. Northburg later became the property of Sir Arthur Chichester, who carried out minor repairs to the structure of the castle for the billeting of his troops. However, since 1700 it has been a total ruin. John O’Donovan stated: “The ruins of this castle still remaining show it was one of the strongest and most important fortresses in all Ireland”,  indicating the magnificence of the castle, even as a ruin.