2009:037 - DUNLUCE CASTLE, DUNLUCE, Antrim

This project was initiated to investigate the history of the castle, its associated 17th-century town and surrounding landscape and formed part of a major research initiative examining the archaeology of the Plantation of Ulster in the early part of the 17th century. The project was conceived and funded by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and was conducted by archaeologists from the University of Ulster and Queen’s University, Belfast.
Following an extended period of survey and historical research, excavations commenced in May for a two-month period. The earliest material located were the footings of a 13th-or 14th-century building, associated with Anglo-Norman activity at the site. Within the castle itself the foundations of a large stone-built structure were uncovered underlying the First Earl of Antrim’s Jacobean house. This may be a hall associated with the McQuillans, who occupied Dunluce until the middle part of the 16th century when the McDonnells expelled them.
The project mainly focused on the area where survey had indicated the site of the former town stood immediately to the east of the castle. The foundations of a Scottish merchant’s house, built in the first two decades of the 17th century, were uncovered fronting on to the well-preserved cobbled surface of a wide street. The plastered walls of the house still survived to waist height, with an internal privy and a fireplace. Numerous finds of bone and pottery provided valuable insights into the lives of these Plantation period peoples, while a 16th-century Polish coin, kept as a token by the merchants, provided an interesting reminder of earlier Scottish migrations to Poland. This town only lasted for about 25 years before it was attacked and burned by the rebelling Irish. Following its abandonment, no further settlement activity or intensive farming took place in the field, which accounts for the extraordinary preservation now encountered. The town was the focus of yearly activity associated with the Dunluce fair and evidence for beer booths and food places were found amongst the ruins.
What survive at Dunluce are the intact foundations of a complete town built at an important and highly significant period in Ulster’s history. This was a town established and laid out by the first earl to rival the towns set up by the London companies throughout Ulster. It represents a highly significant attempt to mimic the work of the formal Plantation and represents an attempt by the McDonnells to capitalise on the political and economic imperatives of the early 17th century, a highly significant period in Ulster’s history.