Greencastle Royal Castle

The motte from the earlier wooden motte-and-bailey castle (possibly built by John de Courcy) is still on the seaward side nearer the point. According to one legend John de Courcy was married at Greencastle, but this may have been at the original motte & bailey castle. According to the information boards at the site it was held for the English Crown by Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, from 1264 to 1333. It was attacked and taken by Edward Bruce, the brother of Robert, in 1316.

The site is also surrounded in close proximity by other medieval sites/monuments: e.g., the motte fortification predating the stone castle (Northern Ireland Sites and Monuments Record No. DOW 057:001), late-Medieval stone church (DOW 057:002) and two burial pits (DOW 057:017) that were excavated in 2003; one contained a female aged 25–35 and the second a child (one presumes related) of less than four years old at death (1 and a half to 3 and a half years old).