Antrim Castle - History

History

According to the Illustrated Dublin Journal of 1861, the castle was built by Sir John Clotworthy, later created Viscount Massereene. It was through his daughter and heiress, Mary, and her marriage to Sir John Skeffington, 4th Baronet (by special remainder he would become the 2nd Viscount Massereene), that the estate and title came to the latter family. A parterre supplied the castle with herbs for cooking and medicinal uses and its long canal was divided into two sections by a limestone cascade.

The castle was raided by Jacobite General Richard Hamilton and his men who looted Viscount Massereene's silver plate and other silverware and furniture up to a value of £3000, a considerable loss at the time. For sometime the castle was used for political conferences; in 1906 Right Hon. John Foster, the last Speaker of the Irish House was reported to have spoken in the Oak Room of the castle at a meeting. During a grand ball on 28 October 1922, the castle caught fire and was destroyed. Although much of the evidence pointed to arson by the IRA, the official verdict was not conclusive, thus no insurance claim was paid out. The castle remained as a ruin until its demolition in 1970. The only evidence of the castle is a slightly raised grassed platform as well as a freestanding Italian tower which was built in 1887 and a gatehouse.

The gardens are a popular tourist attraction, open yearly, located on the Randalstown Road, Antrim, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.