Dunseverick Castle
Dunseverick Castle is the dramatically situated ruins of one of the oldest castles in Ireland, perched on a narrow sea stack on the North Antrim coast between the Giant's Causeway and Ballintoy, its fragmentary walls rising from sheer basalt cliffs above the Atlantic. The site was fortified from at least the early medieval period, with Dunseverick mentioned in the ancient Ulster annals and associated with the legendary figures of early Irish history. The present masonry represents the latest phase of occupation, with the castle destroyed by Cromwellian forces in 1653. The coastal path that passes the castle is part of the Causeway Coast Way, one of the most spectacular coastal walking routes in Ireland, with the Giant's Causeway UNESCO World Heritage Site a short distance to the west.