THE Castle of Dunluce is picturesquely situated on the sea coast about three miles east of Portrush. The name, however, shows that the site was utilised as a place of defence long before the erection of any castle there. The prefix '' Dun " indicates a large fort, residence of a king or leading chief, and " Dunluce " is variously interpreted as " the fort of the sea-sprite (or mermaid) " or " the strong fort." This isolated and precipitous rock, separated by a deep chasm from the mainland, and almost surrounded by a sea seldom peaceful, would be practically impregnable before the use of artillery.
The date and circumstances of the building of the castle can only be conjectured. The earliest building appears to date from the 13th century. The Anglo-Normans were active on both sides of the Lower Bann between 1290 and 1310, and there is documentary evidence that they were established at this period in Derry City, Coleraine and Portrush. It may be inferred that as at Carrickfergus and Dundrum, they would at once have recognised the advantage of the site of Dunluce for defence and control of sea and land, and occupation would have been followed by the building of a stronghold. Thus the castle may have been built about 1300 by Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, who was overlord of the district, or by one of his chief followers. Architectural evidence would not be opposed to a date of erection as early as 1250. After the Bruce invasion (1315-18) North Antrim reverted to native clans and Scottish invaders. Nothing seems to be known of the history of Dunluce Castle until the beginning of the i6th century, when it is found in the possession of an Irish clan, the MacQuillans. The Annals of the Four Masters record that in 1513 the castle was taken by O'Donnell from the sons of Gerald MacQuillan and given to the sons of Walter MacQuillan. In 1544 Colla MacDonnell, a collateral ancestor of the subsequent Earls of Antrim, married the daughter of Edward MacQuillan, of Dunluce, and seems to have gradually established his power there, to the exclusion of the sons of Edward MacQuillan. At some time after Colla's death in 1558, the MacQuillans seem to have been displaced from Dunluce by Sorley Boy MacDonnell, brother of Colla. In 1565 Shane O'Neill compelled the surrender of the castle by threatening to starve to death James and Sorley Boy MacDonnell, who were his prisoners. In 1567 Sorley was again in possession. In 1584 the Lord Deputy, Sir John Perrott, took Dunluce with the aid of artillery, but on his return to Dublin Sorley Boy resumed occupation. In 1588 a ship of the Spanish Armada, the Gerona, returning to Spain around Scotland and Northern Ireland, was wrecked with the loss of almost all her company at a little cove near the Giant's Causeway still called Portnaspanaigh, " the port of the Spaniards." Sorley Boy salved three guns from the wrecked ship and mounted them in the castle.
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