Ireland · Ruin
Rathlin Castle
Rathlin Castle was a medieval stone castle on Rathlin Island off the coast of County Antrim, long associated with the Bissett family and later with Robert I of Scotland. It played a role in 14th- and 16th-century conflicts, including the 1306 refuge of Robert Bruce and the 1575 attack and massacre.
Its prime
1306
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1306
What Rathlin Castle looked like in its prime.
A compact medieval stone fortress set on the rocky shore of Rathlin Island, built of local dark-grey masonry. At its prime it presented a low, solid silhouette of curtain walls surrounding a cluster of timber-roofed service buildings and a taller stone keep rising above the inner ward. Parapets and wooden hoardings lined the walls; narrow arrow slits and a single defended entrance faced the sea. The castle stood intact and fully manned, directly above rocky foreshore and small landing points.
Its story
The story of Rathlin Castle.
A Thirteenth-Century Castle and the Bisset Inheritance
Rathlin Castle, known also as Bruce's Castle, stood on Rathlin Island off the coast of County Antrim. It was probably built for Sir John de Courcy in the early thirteenth century. In 1213 it was granted to Donnchad mac Gilla Brigte, and two years later it passed into the possession of the de Lacys. Later in the same century it came to the Bissets, the Scoto-Irish family who were Lords of the Glens of Antrim and kin to the Macdonalds.
Robert Bruce's Winter of 1306, and What It Cost the Bissets
In 1306 Robert I of Scotland was beaten by Sir Aymer de Valence at the Battle of Methven, and then by the Lord of Lorne at the Battle of Strathfillan. He retired to Rathlin Castle for the winter with a small following of his most faithful men, among them James Douglas, Lord of Douglas; his own brothers Thomas, Alexander and Edward; Sir Neil Campbell; and Malcolm II, Earl of Lennox. Angus Og Macdonald, a friend to Bruce, had brought them across in his galleys from Dunaverty on Kintyre with three hundred of his own men, and the Bissets, as owners of the island and the castle, took them in. For that welcome the Bissets were later dispossessed of the castle by the English.
The Rathlin Island Massacre
In July 1575 English forces led by Francis Drake and John Norreys attacked the castle with cannon. The garrison, some MacDonnells of Antrim, surrendered. The defenders, except for a number kept as prisoners, and the residents of the island were put to the sword. The event is known as the Rathlin Island Massacre.
The main MacDonnell army, led by Sorley Boy MacDonnell and stationed at Ballycastle, had witnessed the event taking place on Rathlin Island; the families and valuables of the MacDonnells had been lodged on Rathlin for safety. Sorley Boy afterwards led his army in a successful retaliatory raid on Carrickfergus, from which the Rathlin expedition had set out. The castle itself is a ruin.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1306.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Rathlin Castle, including 2 interiors: keep great chamber (where bruce wintered), garrison quarters and guardroom. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Rathlin Castle with AI to explore it.
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Clans who held Rathlin Castle.
The families that held Rathlin Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
de Lacy
Held by the de Lacys from 1215 until later in the 13th century.
Bissett
Held by the Scoto-Irish Bissett family, Lords of the Glens of Antrim, from the later 13th century.
