Over the front entrance is a stone screen slightly raised from the wall and ending in a pointed arch under the parapet wall. It is about 8 feet in width, and is handsomely sculptured with arms, mottoes, and events connected with the castle and its owners. At the top is a carved head representing Charles I., supposed to have been placed there by the first Viscount when he added to the fortress in 1662. Lower down are the arms of the founder and his wife, with the date of erection (1613), &c. Immediately over the hall door is a carved shell supported by mermaids, which represents the Skeffyngton crest.
The two ancient bastions have been formed into terrace gardens, and the grounds of the whole castle are most beautifully laid out. A splendid view is obtained from the old “Mount,” the summit of which is reached by a winding path.
The demesne is entered from the town through a castellated entrance, surmounted by a turretted warder’s lodge, which upon state occasions in modern times has been sentinelled with warders garbed in antique costume, battle-axe in hand.
Near the gatehouse upon the angle of the southern bastion is the carved stone figure of “Lady Marion’s Wolfdog,” representing that splendid Irish breed now extinct. At one time this statue surmounted a turret of the castle, where the great animal appeared to be keeping a “look out” over the lough. Local superstition said that it had appeared there without human agency on the night after the incident occurred with which the legend connects it, and that as long as it keeps watch over the castle and grounds so long will the race of Lady Marion Clotworthy continue to live and thrive.
The story is as follows:—The lovely bride of Sir Hugh Clotworthy wandered one day in his absence outside the bawn walls along the shores of Lough Neagh. Hearing behind her a low growl, she turned round to find a wolf preparing to spring. In her terror she fell to the ground, and with the force of the animal’s leap he passed beyond her. Before he had time to return to his victim a large wolf-hound had seized him in mortal combat. The lady fainted at the sight, and when she recovered consciousness the dog was licking her hands, while the wolf lay dead. She bound up the noble animal’s wounds, and he followed her home, being her constant companion for many a day, until he suddenly disappeared and no trace of him could be found.
Shortly after this the castle was built, and one wild, stormy night the deep baying of a wolf-hound was heard passing round and round the walls of the fortress. The warders, scared by the unusual sound, kindled the beacon on the mount, and by its light discovered a band of natives making preparation for an attack. A few shots dispersed them, but before they left a howl of pain was heard near the entrance gate, where a few flattened bullets were found the next morning. Then upon the castle tower the affrighted warders perceived the stone figure of the dog.
It is probable that Sir Hugh had the figure carved to please his lady, and after the attack considered its mysterious appearance on the fortress the best protection against a superstitious enemy, who had most likely destroyed the beautiful original, which had come from the Abbey of Massarine to warn its former kind friend of danger.
Sir Hugh Clotworthy was succeeded by his son, Sir John, afterwards first Viscount Massereene. He sat in both the Irish and English Houses of Commons, and was one of Stafford’s chief accusers. He was in London when the rebellion of 1641 broke out. The insurrection was in part prevented by a retainer of his, one Owen O’Conally, called “the great informer.”
Sir John’s brother, James, secured the castle in his absence from attack, and the owner returned to it at the end of the year, and took command of the forces in the district. He was imprisoned in 1647 for three years for censuring (with other Members of Parliament) the seizing of the King. During this time his mother, the Lady Marion, occupied the castle. O’Conally commanded Sir John’s regiment in his absence, and in 1649 it was joined to General Monk’s forces. Oliver Cromwell made O’Conally commander of the regiment then at Antrim Castle, and Monro marched against it and killed its leader, but the castle still remained in possession of the troops.
Sir John was raised to the peerage by Charles II. in 1660 as Viscount Massereene. He had no son, and was succeeded in the title and estates by his son-in-law, Sir John Skeffyngton, and henceforward his surname was added to the family name of Clotworthy.