“Downpatrick too may boast
Of the great fort by its side,
Where a monarch may have lived,
And have rul’d in savage pride;
But what is Patrick’s grave,
Or cathedral old and grey,
To the proud baronial castle
That adorns Killileagh?”
This castle stands on rising ground above the town of Killyleagh, five miles north-east of Downpatrick, in the County of Down. It was the principal fortress of seven which formerly guarded the shores of Strangford Lough.
About a mile distant is Loch Cleath, or “The Lake of the Hurdles,” so it is probable that Killyleagh signifies “the Church of the Hurdles.”
The gate tower of the castle is entered under a Gothic arch of Glasgow stone from the main street of the town. It is 59 feet in height, and crowned with turrets. Curtain walls on each side connect it with flanking towers, which are again joined by other castellated walls to the castle itself, thus enclosing a rectangular courtyard, which is laid out in grass and flower-beds.
The mansion has an imposing frontage, flanked at both sides by circular towers. One of these dates from the castle’s erection, and the other, which is a copy, from the year 1666. The centre block of masonry was entirely restored in the middle of the nineteenth century. Some of the walls, which were removed at that time, were 15 feet thick, being composed of rubble and excellent mortar.
The old carved stone over the door was copied in Caen stone. The Royal Arms are surmounted by a figure of Charles I., while below are the family arms. The original stone, which was much weather worn, has been placed over a small door at the side.
Most of the stone used at the restoration was quarried on the estate, but the facing stones were brought from Scotland.
One of the special attractions of this charming residence is the beautiful terraced gardens lying to the south. They consist of three tiers of cultivation beginning with the “Box Garden” of trim flower-beds, from which you descend by a flight of rustic steps to “the Rockery Garden” abounding in Alpine plants. Here some beautiful and extremely ancient yew-trees are to be seen, their branches being 120 feet in circumference, while below a small lake in the centre of rose-beds leaves nothing to be desired in its delightful effect.
The castle was erected by Sir John de Courcy shortly after his conquest of Ulster, and in 1356 Edward III. appointed John de Mandeville warden.
After this it fell into the hands of the O’Neills, who retained it up to 1561, when Queen Elizabeth granted the territory to Hugo White. He rebuilt the castle and removed the ward from Dufferin Castle near, to garrison it. After this it was known as “White’s Castle” for many years.