Ireland · Restored
Ardgillan Castle
Ardgillan Castle is an 18th-century country house near Balbriggan in County Fingal, set within a 200-acre public demesne that includes formal gardens and parkland. Built in 1738 with later 19th-century works, the house displays castellated architectural ornament and is now restored and open to visitors.
Its prime
1855
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1855
The shape it held in its prime.
A long, two-storey country house set on a gentle sea-facing hill, with a continuous crenellated parapet and several square battlemented projections along its roofline. The grey stone façade is regular, with rows of rectangular sash windows and a low, almost flat roof hidden behind the battlements. East and west wings extend from a central block; the basement level extends beneath the south lawns. The house sits above formal gardens and lawns that slope down toward Barnageera Beach and the Irish Sea.
Its story
The story of Ardgillan Castle.
The Reverend Robert Taylor, son of Sir Thomas Taylor, 1st Baronet, built Ardgillan in 1738 on wooded land previously owned by Robert Usher, a wine merchant from Tallaght. To clear the site he employed former soldiers from Bangor, County Down, paying a penny and a meal per day plus a nightly bed and a tot of Bushmills whiskey, brought in at 2s 2d a gallon.
The house passed down in the 19th century to Thomas Edward Taylor, grandson of Thomas Taylour, 1st Earl of Bective. In the 1850s George Papworth carried out renovations including farm offices, while Frederick Darley designed new stable blocks. The Taylors kept Ardgillan until 1962, when the estate was sold to Henrich Potts of Westphalia; in 1982 Fingal County Council bought it and, with the help of Fás, renovated the house, which now sits in a 200-acre public demesne.
Step inside
12 places to explore in 1855.
The record describes 12 distinct spots at Ardgillan Castle — including 5 interiors: main reception / entrance area (ground floor), ground-floor living rooms, basement kitchen and service stores and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Ardgillan Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1855 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Ardgillan Castle.
The families that held Ardgillan Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Built by the Reverend Robert Taylor in 1738; the Taylor family kept the house until the estate was sold in 1962.
