Killyleagh Castle is a castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 in the village of Killyleagh

Killyleagh

Killyleagh is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the A22 road from Downpatrick, on the western side of Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,483 people in the 2001 Census. It is best known for its 12th century Killyleagh Castle...

, County Down

County Down

-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It dominates the small village and is believed to be the oldest inhabited castle in the country, with parts dating back to 1180. It follows the architectural style of a Loire Valley

Loire Valley

The Loire Valley , spanning , is located in the middle stretch of the Loire River in central France. Its area comprises approximately . It is referred to as the Cradle of the French Language, and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards, and artichoke, asparagus, and...

 château

Château

A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...

, being redesigned by architect Sir Charles Lanyon

Charles Lanyon

Sir Charles Lanyon DL, JP was an English architect of the 19th century. His work is most closely associated with Belfast, Northern Ireland.-Biography:Lanyon was born in Eastbourne, Sussex in 1813...

 in the mid-19th century. It has been owned by the Hamilton family since the early 17th century.

It is currently the home of Gawn Rowan Hamilton and his young family. The castle hosts occasional concerts; performers have included Van Morrison

Van Morrison

Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

, Glen Hansard

Glen Hansard

Glen Hansard is the Academy Award–winning principal songwriter and vocalist/guitarist for Irish group The Frames and one half of folk rock duo, The Swell Season...

 and Bap Kennedy

Bap Kennedy

Martin "Bap" Kennedy is a singer-songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland and older brother of singer Brian Kennedy. He is noted for writing the song "Moonlight Kiss" which was on the soundtrack for the film Serendipity .Kennedy was in a successful band, Energy Orchard for many years and has...

. The gate lodges provide self-catering holiday accommodation.

History

Killyleagh was settled in the 12th century by Norman

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 knight John de Courcy

John de Courcy

John de Courcy was a Anglo-Norman knight who arrived in Ireland in 1176. From then until his expulsion in 1204, he conquered a considerable territory, endowed religious establishments, built abbeys for both the Benedictines and the Cistercians and built strongholds at Dundrum Castle in County...

 who built fortifications on the site of the castle in 1180, as part of a series of fortifications around Strangford Lough

Strangford Lough

Strangford Lough, sometimes Strangford Loch, is a large sea loch or inlet in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula. The name Strangford is derived ; describing the fast-flowing narrows at its mouth...

 for protection from the Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

s.

In 1602 Gaelic chieftain Con O'Neill of Clandeboye

Clandeboye

Clandeboye is in modern times an area of Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is named after the Clandeboye family, a branch of the O'Neill dynasty. They settled in the 1330s after the death of the Earl of Ulster in what is now south Antrim and north Down, giving their name to the territory...

 owned large tracts of North Down, including Killyleagh. O'Neill sent his men to attack English soldiers after a quarrel and was consequently imprisoned. O'Neill's wife made a deal with Scots aristocrat Hugh Montgomery to give him half of O'Neill's lands if Montgomery could get a royal pardon for O'Neill. Montgomery obtained the pardon but King James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

 divided the land in three, with the area from Killyleagh to Bangor

Bangor, County Down

Bangor is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a seaside resort on the southern side of Belfast Lough and within the Belfast Metropolitan Area. Bangor Marina is one of the largest in Ireland, and holds Blue Flag status...

 going to another Scot, James Hamilton, later 1st Viscount Claneboye

James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye

James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye was a Scot who became owner of large tracts of land in County Down, Ireland, and founded a successful Protestant Scots settlement there several years before the Plantation of Ulster...

. A map of Killyleagh from 1625 showed the castle as having a single tower on the south side of a residence. In about 1625 Hamilton moved from Bangor to Killyleagh Castle, where he built the courtyard walls. It has been the home of the Hamilton family ever since.

Viscount Claneboye's son, James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Clanbrassil

Earl of Clanbrassil

The title of Earl of Clanbrassil was created twice in the Peerage of Ireland.On 4 May 1622 Sir James Hamilton was created Viscount Claneboye in the Peerage of Ireland. The 2nd Viscount, of the same name, was created Earl of Clanbrassil on 7 June 1647...

, built the second tower. He supported the Stuart monarch Charles I of England

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

 and the castle was besieged in 1649 by Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

's forces who sailed gunboats into Strangford Lough and blew up the gatehouse. The Earl fled, leaving behind his wife and children. Parliament fined him for the return of the castle and his land.

The 1st Earl's son, Henry Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Clanbrassil, rebuilt the castle in 1666. He erected the north tower and built (or perhaps restored) the long fortified bawn

Bawn

A bawn is the defensive wall surrounding an Irish tower house. It is the anglicised version of the Irish word badhún meaning "cattle-stronghold" or "cattle-enclosure". The Irish word for "cow" is bó and its plural is ba...

 (wall) in the front of the castle. The 2nd Earl's castle is mostly what remains today.

In 1667 the 2nd Earl married Lady Alice Moore, daughter of the Earl of Drogheda

Earl of Drogheda

The title Earl of Drogheda was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1661 for the 3rd Viscount Moore, and is extant.Lord Drogheda also holds the titles Viscount Moore, of Drogheda , and Baron Moore, of Mellefont in the County of Louth in the Peerage of Ireland and Baron Moore, of Cobham in the...

, and their only child died in infancy. Lady Alice discovered that her father-in-law, the 1st Earl of Clanbrassil, had stated in his will that should Henry die without issue the estate should be divided between five Hamilton cousins, the eldest sons of his five uncles. She destroyed the will and had her husband make his own will in 1674, leaving the estate to her. Henry died of poisoning in 1675, then Lady Alice died in 1677, leaving the estate to her brother. The cousins, however, were aware of the 1st Earl's will and pursued their rights as inheritors. The matter was concluded 20 years later when a copy of the original will was discovered. By then, the cousins were all dead. The last to die was James Hamilton of Neilsbrook, County Antrim

County Antrim

County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...

, son of Archibald Hamilton, the next brother of James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye

James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye

James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye was a Scot who became owner of large tracts of land in County Down, Ireland, and founded a successful Protestant Scots settlement there several years before the Plantation of Ulster...

. James Hamilton of Neilsbrook had been confident of a settlement in his favour and had bequeathed the estate to be divided in two, with one half going to his daughter Anne Stevenson, née Hamilton, and the other half to his younger brothers Gawn and William Hamilton. In 1697 the probate court divided the castle, with Gawn and William gaining the main house and the two towers and their niece Anne receiving the bawn and gate house. Gawn and William had to open a new entrance on the north side in order to enter their castle.

William died without children in 1716 and the castle passed to successive generations of Gawn Hamilton's descendants. Gawn's great-grandson Archibald Hamilton Rowan

Archibald Hamilton Rowan

Archibald Hamilton Rowan , christened Archibald Hamilton , was an Irish celebrity and a founding member of The Dublin Society of United Irishmen. He was the son of Gawen Hamilton of Killyleagh Castle, Co...

, an Irish nationalist of the United Irishmen, lived in the castle as one of his homes between 1806 and 1834 after his return from exile in America.

Hamilton Rowan's grandson, Archibald Rowan-Hamilton, and his wife employed architect Sir Charles Lanyon

Charles Lanyon

Sir Charles Lanyon DL, JP was an English architect of the 19th century. His work is most closely associated with Belfast, Northern Ireland.-Biography:Lanyon was born in Eastbourne, Sussex in 1813...

 from 1849 and into the 1850s to renovate the castle, creating its romantic silhouette with the addition of the turrets.

James Hamilton of Neilsbrook's daughter Anne married Hans Stevenson and her estate passed to her son James Stevenson, then to his daughter Dorcas, later Dorcas Blackwood, 1st Baroness Dufferin and Claneboye (1726–1807), and on to Dorcas's great-grandson Frederick Temple Blackwood, 5th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye

Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava

Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, KP, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian society...

 (1826–1902). In 1860 the 5th Baron gave the bawn and gate house to the Hamiltons and commissioned a replacement gate house to better match the main castle. The Baron added Hamilton to his surname just before marrying his distant cousin Hariot Georgina Rowan-Hamilton

Hariot Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava

Hariot Georgina Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava VA CI DBE was a British peeress, known for her success in the role of "diplomatic wife", and for leading an initiative to improve medical care for women in British India.-Biography:Born Hariot Georgina Rowan-Hamilton, she...

, daughter of Archibald Rowan-Hamilton, in 1862.

The castle came under attack by the Irish Republican Army

Irish Republican Army

The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...

during the troubles of the 1920s. Gawn Rowan Hamilton has said: "I have a cutting from the Belfast Telegraph which tells the story of my great-great uncle being woken at 2 am and exchanging gunfire from the battlements, which was terribly exciting."