Narrow Water Castle
| Narrow Water Castle | |
|
County Down | |
|---|---|
 Narrow Water Castle | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | J12561939 |
| Location: | 54°6’53"N, 6°16’58"W |
| History | |
| Information | |
| Website: | narrowwatercastle.co.uk |
Narrow Water Castle is a famous 16th-century tower house and bawn near Warrenpoint in the very south of County Down. It stands beside the A2 road on the Downshire bank of the Clanrye River, which enters Carlingford Lough a mile to the south.
Narrow Water Castle was given into state care in 1956. It is also a scheduled monument.[1][2]
History
In 1212, a keep was built on the site by Hugh de Lacy, first Earl of Ulster, to prevent river-borne attacks on Newry. In the 1560s, the tower house and bawn were built. It is a typical example of the tower houses built throughout Ireland from the 14th until the early 17th century. This kind of building, normally rectangular in plan and three or more storeys high, comprised a series of superimposed chambers, with stairs, closets and latrines skillfully contrived within the walls (which five feet thick in places) or sometimes contained in projecting angle turrets.
The original castle was destroyed in the 1641 Rebellion.
Nowadays, cruises past the castle are a regular feature throughout the summer months.
On 27 August 1979, 18 soldiers were killed by a Provisional IRA ambush at Narrow Water Castle. It was the greatest single loss of life for the British Army during The Troubles.[3]
Bridge
The proposed Narrow Water Bridge[4] was to be located close south of the Castle, but in July 2013 Louth County Council announced that the tender process had produced cost estimates significantly in excess of the funding available. They decided therefore to put the project on hold.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Narrow Water Castle) |
- Narrow Water Castle
- Virtual tour of Narrow Water Castle & Keep - Virtual Visit NI
References
- ↑ Scheduled Historic Monuments, 1 April 2019: Historic Environment Division, DoCNI
- ↑ List of State Care Monuments (Historic Environment Division)
- ↑ "On this day - 27 August". BBC News. 27 August 1979. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/27/newsid_3891000/3891055.stm. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ↑ "Narrow Water bridge plan put on hold". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-23246878. Retrieved 10 July 2013.