Portaferry Castle


Portaferry Castle - Photo ©
Stubacca, 8 September 2007

Portaferry Castle is a Tower house situated in Portaferry, County Down, Northern Ireland, overlooking the harbour. It is a small 16th century Tower house built by William Le Savage. Portaferry Castle tower house is a State Care Historic Monument in the townland of Ballyphilip, in Ards Borough Council area.

History

The castle was probably built in the 16th century by a member of the Savage family. In 1635, Patrick Savage's brother-in-law, Sir James Montgomery of Rosemount (Greyabbey), repaired the castle by roofing and flooring it so that his sister could live in greater comfort there.[1]

Features

It is a square building with a small projecting turret on the south corner. It is three storeys high plus attic and there is no vault. Most of the eastern corner is in ruins. The entrance at the base of the tower is protected by a small machicolation and the entrance to the ground floor chamber is protected by a murder-hole. A curved stairway within the tower rises to the first floor and a spiral stairway in the west corner continues to roof level.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b Harbinson, P. (1992). Guide to National and Historic Monuments of Ireland. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. p. 120. 
  2. ^ Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland (1983). Historic Monuments of Northern Ireland. Belfast: HMSO. p. 107. 

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