1 82 [Proc. B.N.F.C, 



Elizabethan enclosure and buildings which occupy the lower 

 level. The situation of the castle and its disadvantage for 

 modern defence was also noticed, it being dominated by a hill 

 only a few hundred yards distant, and the steep, rocky ledges 

 which offer quite as much cover for assailants as protection for 

 defenders. Another feature commented on was the way in 

 which this and most other Anglo-Norman castles of Down 

 were planted with the sea for a secure base in preference to the 

 difficult and dangerous land journey by or through the Mourne 

 Mountains. 



From thence some of the party went to botanise and search 

 for prehistoric relics on the sandhills, but the majority pro- 

 ceeded to the village of Maghera, about two miles distant* 

 The village itself, with ruined mills and farm-steadings, seems 

 rather in a state of decline. The chief interest centres in the 

 ancient church and round tower. Judging from the masonry, 

 the latter appears to be one of the older and ruder class, but 

 the stump only remains, for in the year 1704 the upper part 

 of the tower was blown down in a storm, and, owing to the 

 strength of the mortar, it lay unbroken along the ground, 

 according to a contemporary account, " like a huge gun," which 

 is represented now by a grass-covered mound. Of the church 

 very little more than the west gable and part of the side walls 

 are now standing, and these are so overgrown with ivy and old 

 half-decayed elder trees as to tell but little of its original date 

 or character. If we can rely upon Lewis' Topographical 

 Dictionary, however, sixty years ago a " fine Norman doorway, 

 since destroyed, was to be seen in the west gable, and two 

 graceful lancet windows in the south wall." Inside the church 

 is a slab with armorial bearings and the date 1674, quarterings 

 apparently of the Harrington and Hamilton families. Outside 

 is part of an incised horizontal cross, now doing duty upside 

 down as a perpendicular headstone. The whole site, if carefully 

 investigated, might bring to light some interesting relics, and 

 it is to be hoped the lord of the manor or some other persons 

 may be induced to take up the exploration. From Maghera a 



