Castle Balfour

The view from the housing estate south of the castle gives an idea of its defensive strength. The castle was built from about 1618 onwards by the Scottish planter, Sir James Balfour, and shows clear Scottish influence in plan and details. It was altered in 1652 and damaged in 1689 but continued in occupation until the early 19thcentury. Major conservation was done in the 1960s and in the late 1990s. A wing formerly projecting east into the graveyard has disappeared. The surviving building is of T- plan with the entrance through a dressed-stone projecting bay with gun-loops. On the ground floor are vaulted rooms and a kitchen with remains of a large fireplace and small oven. The main dwelling rooms were at first floor level and the stairs to rooms above are carried in a corbelled-out turret made of sharply cut grey limestone. There are Balfour grave slabs in the vault at Aghalurcher Church.

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