![]() In 1217 the new constable, De Serlane, was assigned one hundred pounds to build a new curtain wall so that the approach along the rock could be protected, as well as the eastern approaches over the sand exposed at low tide. Following its capture, constables were appointed to command the castle and the surrounding area. The castle also appears in the official English records in 1430 when King John laid siege to it and took control of what was then Ulster's premier strategic garrison. ![]() Lord Edmund Savage of the Ards was Seneschal of Ulster and Constable of Carrickfergus Castle in the late 14th century under Richard II. From its strategic position on a rocky promontory, originally almost surrounded by sea, the castle commanded Carrickfergus Bay (later known as Belfast Lough), and the land approaches into the walled town that developed beneath its shadow. It had several buildings, including the great hall. ![]() Initially de Courcy built the inner ward, a small bailey at the end of the promontory with a high polygonal curtain wall and east gate. Origins Ĭarrickfergus was built by John de Courcy in 1177 as his headquarters, after he conquered eastern Ulster and ruled as a petty king until 1204, when he was ousted by another Norman adventurer, Hugh de Lacy. Today it is maintained by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency as a state care historic monument, at grid ref: J4143 8725. It was strategically useful, with 3/4 of the castle perimeter surrounded by water (although in modern times only 1/3 is surrounded by water due to land reclamation). Besieged in turn by the Scottish, native Irish, English, and French, the castle played an important military role until 1928 and remains one of the best preserved medieval structures in Northern Ireland. Still in the possession of the Dobbs family.Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish Carraig Ḟergus or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of Belfast Lough. A major difference is that Castle Dobbs featured an-above ground basement level, possibly an allowance for the damper Irish climate. Dobbs is known to have owned a copy and there are similarites between the house and a design plate entitled ‘Draught done for a Gentleman in Essex’. ![]() Possibly designed by Dobbs himself, based on designs by Gibbs and published in “A Book of Architecture” (1728). There is an entablature over the lower storey and a high solid parapet to the roof. Castle Dobbs House consists of two storeys over a high basement with a seven-bay front with a three-bay pedimented break-front centre. While a member of the Irish Parliament (for Carrickfergus), Dobbs purchased 400,000 acres of North Carolina in 1745. As Surveyor-General, Arthur Dobbs supervised the construction of the Irish Parliament House in Dublin. AntrimĬastle Dobbs was built in 1730 by Arthur Dobbs, Surveyor-General of Ireland and Governor of North Carolina.
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