Qualla: Carrickabraghy Castle

Carrickabraghy Castle: Introduction

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Annals of the Four Masters, that great medieval chronicle of Ireland, refer to the lords of Carraig Bhrachai for nearly four hundred years. Every reference is to a death. In 834, Fearghas son of Badhbhchadh, lord of Carraig Bhrachai, was killed by Munstermen. In 857, Sechonnan son of Conaing died. In 878, Maolfabhail. In 907, Ruarc. In 915, the chief was slain in a battle with Danes or Norse. In 965, Tiarnach. In 1014, Cu Dubh. In 1053, Flaitheartach. In 1065, Muireartach, killed by the Ui Meith of Menna Tire. In 1082, Giolla Chriost, slain. In 1102, Sitric, killed in a night raid. In 1166, Aodh, treacherously killed. In 1199, Cathalan, killed in revenge. In 1215, Trad and his brothers, slain in Dumbartonshire by the chief steward of Lennox. Then the Annals fall silent. The lords of Carrickabraghy disappear from history.

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Carrickabraghy Castle: The Friars Rock and the McFalls

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The castle stands on a rocky outcrop at the north-western extremity of the Isle of Doagh, at the head of Pollan Bay in north Inishowen. The Irish name, Carraig Bhrachai, has been translated variously. Machtochair, in his 1867 history of Inishowen, said it meant the Friars Rock. O...

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Carrickabraghy Castle: A Viking Tale

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In his book Ancient Monuments of Inishowen, Sean Beattie recounts a tale of a Viking raid on Donegal in the tenth century. Three princesses were taken hostage during the raid. One escaped, carrying with her plundered treasure, and came ashore at Carrickabraghy. She married a loca...

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Carrickabraghy Castle: Sean Og, Feilim Og, Cathaoir Rua

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Carraig Bhrachai is silent in the records from 1215 until 1600. By then the political map had changed entirely. The O'Doherty clan now held Inishowen, and the Chief of the Name was Sean Og O Dochartaigh, Lord of Inishowen. The English were closing in. Sean Og decided to store his...

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Carrickabraghy Castle: Cahir Roe's Rebellion

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Cathaoir Rua, known in English as Cahir Roe, took full control in 1605 when he turned eighteen. His rule was peaceful until 1607, the year of the Flight of the Earls, when the leaders of Gaelic Ulster sailed for the continent and effectively surrendered their land to the English ...

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Carrickabraghy Castle: What Was Saved

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

For three and a half centuries, Carrickabraghy stood empty. The wind off Pollan Bay worked at the mortar. The Atlantic, only metres away, did its slow work too. By the late twentieth century the ruin was perilous, parts of the curtain walls collapsing. A grant from the National R...

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