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| DUNLUCE CASTLE, COUNTY ANTRIM.- The above storied fortess-now a roofless ruin-is situated on a high point of the coast of Antrm, within a few miles of the town of Portrush. In Gaelic its name is Dun-lios, which is interpreted "the strong for," and, indeed, in the days of its prime, this was no misnomer. It is built on an isolated rock, fully a hundred and twenty feet above the level of the waves that foam at its base; and the walls of the old catle rise sheer from the precipitous height, which gives the place a most formidable aspect. In the period of its prime, it must have been impregnable, except to treachery or starvation. The remains indicate a Norman origin, and tradition says that it was one of the castles erected by the brave and adventurous Sir John de Courey, in the twelfth century, to protect his interests in Ulster. It was once connected with the mainland by a sort of draw bridge, but this has disappeared, and communication is now kept up by means of long planks, laid over an old viaduct. The structure on the land side of the awful chasm is believed to be of comparatively modern origin. Dunluce has, of cours, its "Baashee" or wailing ghost, which regularly gives warning of the approaching death of some member of the family that originally occupied the castle. The McQuillans wrested the fortress from the English in the fourteenth century. In the reign of James I. they were cozened out of their possessions by one Chichester, whose descendant bears the title of Marquis of Donegal. |
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