Site of Ringdufferin Castle

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Site, c.2.5 miles N/NE of Killyleagh, amidst well wooded grounds overlooking the E coast of Strangford Lough of a former castle or tower house built c.1590-1600. Today there is no visible evidence of this castle, with the general site taken up with Ringdufferin House (a large gentleman’s residence mainly dating from the late 18th century) and its adjacent and probably contemporary rubble–built outbuildings.

The actual position of the castle is not certain. It is conceivable that the present house stands on its site and may incorporate some of the its fabric, but there is as yet no apparent documentary or physical evidence to suggest this. It may well be the case that it actually stood on the isthmus to the S of the present house, an area which is in fact called Castle Island.

Historical information

The earliest reference to a structure on this site occurs in a report in State Papers dating from c.1602 which mentions a castle built by John White ‘on a neck of land’, leased to him by Sir Ralph Lane, ‘called Randuffren’. The exact position of the castle is uncertain, the common consensus, including all OS maps of the area since 1859, favouring a site close to the present house; however, presence of ‘Castle Island’ at the end of the isthmus just to the south of this may be instructive.

In 1636 Alexander Baillie of Innishargy (near Kircubbin) received the lands of Ringdufferin on mortgage from 1st Viscount Clandeboy, becoming absolute owner in 1674. His descendants remained in possession of this land for the next two centuries, during which time Ringdufferin House and its associated buildings assumed much of their present form. Whether the Baillies made any use of the castle, or incorporated it into a later dwelling is not known. It is likely that the actual stone was made use of in later buildings, with the original castle dismantled in the process.

References- Primary sources
1 QUB Calendar of State Papers Ireland, 1601-3, p.303.
2 PRONI T.776, p.89-90 Transcript of a Fee Farm Grant of lands at Ringdufferin- Henry, Earl of Clanbrassill to Alexander Baillie, 9th April 1674.
3 ‘Taylor’s and Skinner’s Maps of the Roads of Ireland (Dublin 1777), map 281. [This map shows a house at Toye belonging to a Mr. Baillie, but its position on the map and its name suggests that this is in fact ‘Toye House’, which appears to have been a Baillie property at one stage also. It is odd that Ringdufferin House is not marked on the map however.]
4 PRONI OS/1/3/24 OS map, 1st ed. 1834, Co. Down 24.
5 PRONI VAL/1B/336 p.75 First valuation, Killyleagh, 1837.
6 PRONI OS/6/3/24/2 OS map, 1st rev., 1859, Co. Down 24.
7 PRONI Second valuation, Killyleagh, 1861. [In print in PRONI search room and Linen Hall Library.]

Secondary sources
1 ‘Archaeological Survey of Co. Down’ (Belfast HMSO 1966), p.263.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Site of a castle (or tower house) built c.1590-1600, no apparent trace of which remains. The general site is now home to a large gentleman’s residence (Ringdufferin House) and its attendant outbuildings, all mainly of late 18th century construction. It is not known if the present house occupies the position of the original castle. It could be the case that the castle was actually built on the isthmus to the south of the house, the perhaps appropriately named ‘Castle Island’.