Sketrick Castle

A castle here is mentioned in written sources as involved in warfare in 1470, so a mid 15th-century date has been suggested, but the present large tower house is probably later, perhaps built in the 16th century on earlier foundations. It was actively involved in 16th-century warfare but stood fairly complete until 1896, when about half collapsed in a storm. It was four storeys high. The door in the east wall was defended by a murder-hole. There were four chambers at ground floor level, the largest with a vault built on wicker centring and two ovens. The central space was a boat bay or storeroom, as at Mahee Castle, and the small, unlighted room could have been a lock-up or a treasury. The upper floors are badly ruined but the joist-holes for the wooden floors can be seen. Part of the bawn wall survives to north and east and there is a lintelled channel from the bawn under the wall to a freshwater spring, rising in a small chamber with a corbelled vault.

Other historic places you can visit:

• Love Heritage NI