Ireland · Restored
Dungiven Castle
Dungiven Castle is a 19th-century castellated house in Dungiven, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, built by Robert Ogilby on the site of an earlier Carey house and completed around 1839. The building has served varied uses — flats, military billet, dance hall, hotel and later a school — and was redeveloped and reopened in the 21st century.
First raised
1839
Its prime
1839
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1839
The shape it held in its prime.
A long, two-storey grey-stone castellated range with a central projecting polygonal tower rising one storey above the main roofline and finished with a crenellated parapet and corbel course. The central tower has a pointed-arch entrance reached by a short flight of stone steps and a tall pointed-arch (lancet-like) window above, flanked by rectangular sash windows with dressed stone surrounds. The roofline of the flanking wings carries low battlemented parapets; the building sits behind a gravel approach and trimmed lawn with shrubs.
Its story
The story of Dungiven Castle.
When Sir Edward died in 1618, the lease passed to his widow, Lady Doddington, née Beresford, who later married Sir Francis Cooke; on her death the Manor of Pellipar was demised to her grand-nephew, Edward Carey. From 1696 the Carey family lived at Dungiven, holding the estate through the rest of the 18th century.
In 1794 Robert Ogilby of Pellipar House paid Carey £10,000 for his interest in the remainder of the lease, then secured a new lease from the Skinners Company on a £25,000 down payment and £1,500 yearly rent. Ogilby built the present castle on top of Carey's castle, which had been badly damaged by fire; the structure was complete before his death in 1839, but the interior was not, and the nephew who inherited had no interest in finishing it.
The Skinners Company then resumed direct control and drew up restoration plans it never advanced, instead selling the castle — purchased again by the Ogilby family. The building has since served as flats, a military billet, a dance hall, a hotel and a school; on 26 October 1971 the Assembly of the Northern Irish People held its first meeting here, and the castle was redeveloped and reopened in the 21st century.
Step inside
5 places to explore in 1839.
The record describes 5 distinct spots at Dungiven Castle — including the full exterior approach. 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 Dungiven Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1839 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Dungiven Castle.
The families that held Dungiven Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Carey
The Carey family lived at Dungiven from 1696, holding the estate until 1794.
Ogilby
Robert Ogilby bought the lease from the Careys in 1794 and built the present castle by 1839; the family later repurchased it from the Skinners Company.
