An old safe is still to be seen in one of the castle walls, and not far from it a curious figure-head, supposed by
SHANE’S CASTLE.
some to have been brought from the East and to belong to a much earlier date than the ruins among which it stands. Tradition states that when it falls the family of O’Neill will come to an end.
It is recorded that in 1490 Edan-dubh-Cairrge, the castle of Niale, the son of Con, son of Hugh Boy, was taken and demolished by Felim, grandson of Niale Boy. It is probable that the present ruins are the remains of a castle which was erected in the sixteenth century upon the site of an older fortress, though the exact date of building is uncertain.
Edenduffcarrick belonged to the O’Neills of Clandaboy, and a younger branch of the great Tyrone family.
They were descendants of Hugh O’Neill, surnamed buide or boy—yellow-haired, from which fact the district got its name.