Belfast Castle

A castle had been erected at Béal Feirste (Belfast) by the 1220s, probably to guard the important ford across the River Lagan.[3] This medieval castle may have been built by the Normans, who invaded East Ulster in the late twelfth-century,[4] when they established the Earldom of Ulster. By 1333, a small settlement is thought to have developed around this castle.[5] This original 'Belfast Castle' was probably located in the area now bounded by Donegall Place, Castle Place, Cornmarket, and Castle Lane in the centre of what is now the City of Belfast.[6][7] Although originally built in either the late twelfth-century or the early thirteenth-century, this castle was rebuilt on several occasions between the 1220s and the 1550s.[8] This original, medieval castle was almost certainly on the same site as the much later 'Plantation-era' castle developed for Lord Chichester.[9]

This original castle site was on the southern bank of the River Farset (which now flows beneath High Street), being located on a sliver of land that was bounded by the Farset to the north and the River Owenvara (Blackstaff River) to the south.[10][11] Both the River Farset and the River Owenvara (Irish: Abhainn Bheara, meaning 'River of the Staff', usually known nowadays in English as the Blackstaff River[12]) emptied into the River Lagan just to the east of this castle site.

The medieval Belfast Castle was eventually seized by a branch of the powerful Uí Néill (O'Neill) dynasty of the Cénel nEógain, probably at the end of the fourteenth-century or the beginning of the fifteenth-century.[13][14][15] This branch of the Uí Néill carved out a túath or Gaelic territory for themselves in South Antrim and North Down which became known as Clann Aedha Buídhe (Clandeboye).[16] The Uí Néill of Clandeboye maintained Belfast Castle as one of their main residences.[17][18] The castle and its surrounding túath remained in the hands of the Uí Néill of Clandeboye throughout the fifteenth- and sixteenth-centuries, with the exception of a few years in the 1570s, when the castle was briefly seized by English forces, initially under the command of The 1st Earl of Essex, during the Enterprise of Ulster.[19][20]

In October 1574, The 1st Earl of Essex and his retinue were invited to a feast at Belfast Castle by Sir Brian mac Feidhlimidh Ó Néill (Sir Brian McPhelim O'Neill), Lord of Lower Clandeboye.[21][22] The feast was to celebrate a newly signed peace agreement between the English Crown and Sir Brian.[23] After the feast was over, the English soldiers accompanying Lord Essex suddenly set upon and murdered most of the family and retainers of Sir Brian inside Belfast Castle.[24][25] It seems this massacre was ordered by Essex himself.[26] This event is usually known as the Clandeboye Massacre. The castle was then seized by Essex and his English forces. Sir Brian mac Feidhlimidh Ó Néill wasn't killed during this massacre. Instead, Sir Brian, along with his wife and his brother, were arrested by Lord Essex and, later in 1574, all three were executed in Dublin.[27][28]

By 1603, Belfast Castle, which was probably a Gaelic towerhouse by this time, was in ruins, largely as a result of the Nine Years War.[29] In July of 1603, Sir Arthur Chichester (later created, in 1613, The 1st Baron Chichester), then Governor of Carrickfergus Castle, offered to rebuild Belfast Castle if he was 'granted' Belfast and its surrounding lands by the Crown. This was done in August 1603, when the Crown 'granted' Belfast Castle and its surrounding estate to Chichester, who was to serve as the Lord Deputy of Ireland between 1605 and 1616.[30] This grant of the castle and its surrounding lands was reconfirmed by the Crown the following year, in May 1604.[31]

Sir Arthur Chichester was also 'granted' a vast estate in Inishowen in County Donegal, over in the north-west of Ulster, in 1608 or 1609.[32] This huge estate covered almost all of Inishowen,[33][34] and had been seized by the Crown from the Ó Dochartaigh (O'Doherty) clan in the aftermath of the rebellion of Sir Cathaoir Ruadh Ó Dochartaigh (Sir Cahir Rua O'Doherty), Lord of Inishowen, in 1608. Chichester, as Lord Deputy of Ireland, ensured that the huge Ó Dochartaigh lands in Inishowen were granted to himself.[35][36][37] However, very little of this Inishowen estate was ever run directly by the head of the Chichester family; from the early seventeenth-century onwards, almost all of this vast estate was sublet by the Chichesters to several lesser landlords, often described as 'middlemen', on very long-term leases.[38][39] Most of this huge Inishowen estate was sold off by the Chichester family via the Encumbered Estates Court in the 1850s and later in the nineteenth-century.[40][41]

When the head of the Chichester family was advanced in the Peerage of Ireland to being an earl in 1647, they took the title Earl of Donegall due to the family's ownership of this vast estate in Inishowen. The head of the family was further advanced in the Peerage of Ireland to being Marquess of Donegall in July 1791.

Chichester, one of the main architects of the Plantation of Ulster, had Belfast Castle largely rebuilt in the early 1610s, mainly in brick.[42][43] However, when in Ulster, Lord Chichester, as he later became, usually resided at Joymount House in nearby Carrickfergus rather than at the 'Plantation-era' Belfast Castle.[44][45][46] The Chichester family (later also known as the Donegall family) were to own the town of Belfast from around 1603 up until the early 1850s, when their Belfast estate was largely broken up and sold off.[47][48]

On the 24th April 1708, the 'Plantation-era' Belfast Castle, which had been built for Lord Chichester, accidentally burnt down, killing three sisters and one servant of The 4th Earl of Donegall (1695-1757). This castle was never rebuilt.[49][50] Following this fire, the senior line of the Donegall family (also known as the Chichester family) left Belfast. The head of the Donegall family would not live in Belfast again for almost a century, until The 2nd Marquess of Donegall (1769-1844) settled in Belfast in 1802, establishing his main residence there.[51]

When The 2nd Marquess of Donegall settled in Belfast in 1802, what remained of the 'Plantation-era' Belfast Castle had long been a ruin, having been destroyed by a fire almost a century before, in April 1708.[52] This 'Plantation' castle had almost certainly been built on the site of the original, medieval Belfast Castle. By 1802, this original castle site had partially been built upon with other buildings.[53]

Lord Donegall thus had to find an alternative residence for himself and his family. He settled at what became known as Donegall House, a large terraced house on the corner of what is now Donegall Place and Donegall Square North, only a few hundred yards from the original site of Belfast Castle, right in the centre of the town of Belfast[54] (it did not become a city until 1888[55][56]). The 2nd Marquess of Donegall became the first head of his family in almost a century to actually live in Belfast. Since 1708, the Earls and, later, Marquesses of Donegall had mainly lived over in Great Britain, usually living in London.[57]

Because the castle's location was changed, the original site was turned into streets named in honour of the previous castles.[46] Rather than rebuilding on the same site, a new castle was eventually built on Cave Hill (then on the northern edge of Belfast) for The 3rd Marquess of Donegall, with construction starting in 1862 and not ending until 1870.[46] Architect Sir Charles Lanyon designed the new building in the then-popular Scottish baronial style. Construction cost well over the £11,000 set aside to pay for the project. Lord Donegall's son-in-law, Lord Ashley (who later became The 8th Earl of Shaftesbury), paid for the reconstruction and later inherited the castle, in October 1883. Lord Shaftesbury, his wife, Harriet Augusta, and their ancestors are honoured and remembered in the form of Belfast street names, much like how the original castles are remembered.[46]

The Shaftesbury family were not only the castle's residents and owners, but they were also generous donors to the City of Belfast and hosted events at their home. The 9th Earl of Shaftesbury even became Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1907. The castle remained a private estate until the entire property was gifted to the city in January 1934,[46] the process of which became a topic of public interest in the years prior to the official presentation to the city. In the years after it was given to the city, there was some debate about what the castle should be used for. The publicity manager that the castle should either be re-purposed into a tea and dance room, or perhaps a museum and art gallery with refreshment rooms.

The castle was just the beginning. The publicity manager also made plans for the grounds to include an open-air theatre, clay pigeon shooting, archery, tennis courts, bowling greens, squash courts, and mini golf. With such an ambitious project, a sub-committee estimated that the minimum possible cost would be £160,000 before considering the cost of employing grounds keepers and the cost of restoring the building.

Since 1945, the castle has been a popular venue for weddings, afternoon teas, and other such events.[46]