Sketrick Castle
Sketrick Castle is a ruined fifteenth-century tower house on an island in Strangford Lough near Ardmillan in County Down, Northern Ireland, one of the characteristic lough-shore and island castles that punctuate the extraordinary landscape of this great tidal inlet. The castle was associated with the Savage family of the Ards Peninsula and controlled movement across this part of the lough. The surrounding waters of Strangford Lough provide one of the most important marine and coastal habitats in Ireland, supporting internationally significant populations of brent geese, waders, wildfowl and the diverse marine life of a tidal lough system. The heritage landscape of Strangford Lough shores, combining early Christian sites, Norman earthworks, plantation-era settlements and Victorian estate buildings, makes this one of the richest historical landscapes in Northern Ireland.