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Tuesday 12 September 2017

CLOUGHEY AND KIRKISTOWN CASTLE



The village of Cloughey started out as a row of coastguard cottages at the south end of the beach.  It gained popularity as a holiday destination in the 1920s, helped no doubt by the presence of a golf course and a sandy beach fringing a gently curving bay.  However, not all of this stretch of coast is so benign.  The North and South Rocks in the sea off the village have long been considered one of the major hazards to shipping in the area.  In 1883 a ship called the Wild Deer carrying 300 emigrants heading for New Zealand foundered on the North Rocks in heavy seas.  Happily, the passengers were rescued with the help of the local fishing boats.  No doubt there would have been loss of life were it not for the fact that the passengers were implored to stay below deck, in fact the women were so panicked that the crew locked them in to prevent them from rushing up to the deck.

Kirkistown Castle is about a mile to the north of Cloughey, just outside the golf course bearing the same name.  It is believed to have been built in 1622 by Roland Savage, possibly on the site of an earlier construction.  The castle is typical of the area, with a three-storey tower house.  The tower house was threatened by subsidence, being built in a marshy area, necessitating the later addition of buttresses and iron braces.  There is also a motor racing circuit nearby, which was built on the site of an airfield established during the Second World War for the use of  the American Air Force. 


File:Cloughey Bay - geograph.org.uk - 837592.jpg
Cloughey Bay - geograph.org.uk - 837592. Photo by Albert Bridge, via Wikimedia Commons.

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