Qualla: Killowen Castle https://qualla.com/killowen-castle en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Killowen Castle https://qualla.com/killowen-castle Killowen Castle: Introduction https://qualla.com/killowen-castle/ Nobody knows exactly where it stood. Killowen Castle - sometimes called Drumtarsy Castle in older records - was built on the west bank of the River Bann at Coleraine in 1248 by John FitzGeoffrey, Justiciar of Ireland under King Henry III. It was a fortified base for an Anglo-Norman military campaign against the Gaelic kingdoms of Ulster. It stood for at least 134 years, was repaired as late as 1382, then crumbled away into history. The medieval place-name Drumtarsy has fallen out of local use entirely. The castle's foundations have been ploughed under or built over or eroded away. What survives is paperwork: Ecclesiastical Taxation lists, exchequer accounts, the annals of the Four Masters. The castle that once mattered enough for a king's justiciar to construct is now a phantom in the records of a place locals call simply the Waterside.

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/g/3/killowen-castle-wp/gcg3-killowen-castle-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Killowen Castle: John FitzGeoffrey's Campaign https://qualla.com/killowen-castle/ The mid-13th century saw the English Crown push hard to consolidate its hold on Ulster and Connacht. The Cenél nEógain - the great Gaelic dynasty of the O'Neills - had been weakened by the death of their high king Aodh Méith in 1230, and a vicious succession struggle within the f...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/g/3/killowen-castle-wp/gcg3-killowen-castle-john-fitzgeoffreys-campaign.mp3 0:06 2 full Killowen Castle: Drumtarsy and the Green Stone https://qualla.com/killowen-castle/ The castle's older name was Drumtarsy - *Druim-tairsigh*, possibly meaning 'ridge of the crossing' - and the parish surrounding it took its name from the church built to serve the garrison community. St Eugene's was constructed in 1288 and the parish became *Cill Eogain*, 'church...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/g/3/killowen-castle-wp/gcg3-killowen-castle-drumtarsy-and-the-green-stone.mp3 0:06 3 full Killowen Castle: The 1382 Repair Order https://qualla.com/killowen-castle/ By 1382, Killowen Castle was still in use but evidently in poor condition. King Richard II's administration in Dublin ordered John Rynaux, Treasurer of Ulster, to repair the castle along with the bridge of Coulrath (Coleraine) and the towers located on either side of the bridge. ...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/g/3/killowen-castle-wp/gcg3-killowen-castle-the-1382-repair-order.mp3 0:06 4 full Killowen Castle: The Castle on the Derry Crest https://qualla.com/killowen-castle/ There is a fragmentary tradition that the castle in the background of the heraldic crest of Derry City may be Killowen Castle - though the link is contested, and the more common interpretation is that the depicted castle is intended to represent the Plantation walls of Derry itse...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/g/3/killowen-castle-wp/gcg3-killowen-castle-the-castle-on-the-derry-crest.mp3 0:06 5 full Killowen Castle: What Lies Underneath https://qualla.com/killowen-castle/ The Killowen district of modern Coleraine - the western suburbs across the bridge from the town centre - sits over the ground where John FitzGeoffrey's castle once stood. The Killowen Primary School, the Killowen Parish church of the Church of Ireland, the rows of post-war housin...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/g/3/killowen-castle-wp/gcg3-killowen-castle-what-lies-underneath.mp3 0:06 6 full