Northburgh Castle

Northburgh Castle in Greencastle

It was my second time visiting the village of Greencastle within a few weeks. The weather was great and I thought it would be great to explore Inishowen once again. I head to places which I haven’t been to the last time. Greencastle seems to be one of those fishing villages but these days it probably looks more like is holiday village. I always wondered about the name of the village and where it came from. Is there really a castle here? As I was going down the main thoroughfare of Greencastle. I noticed that there were ruins here. The place was overgrown with plants now making it look green. True enough, this was the ruins of an old castle. Giving the village it’s name.

Ruins of Northburgh Castle

Northburgh Castle is a castle established to take control of Lough Foyle. It was established by Richard Óg de Burgh who was an earl. Unfortunately, the British captured the castle and held it for a while. However, the castle suffered considerable damage that it was beyond repair. Eventually, it was left in ruins to this day. There is little to tell that this used to be a castle. There are large pillars which can give visitors and idea of what was here but it is just mostly that. Anyone can come here and observe castle. At the time of my visit, it seemed someone was even having a picnic at the castle ruins. Where else can you go to a castle for a picnic? The pillars look very impressive with all the plant growth on it, making look even older.

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