In between the Giant’s Causeway and the visit to Bushmills Distillery, we stopped off at Dunluce Castle.

Dunluce was owned by Clan MacQuillan in the early 16th century and won in battle by Clan MacDonnell during the late 16th century. It’s location is part of it’s interesting history: it resides on a basalt outcropping and is connected to the mainland by a bridge, making it incredibly defensible, especially after they added cannons salvaged from a shipwrecked Spanish galleasse were added to the gatehouse.

The other claim to fame is the unearthed town that was built on the mainland. This town was discovered in 2011 and studies indicate that the houses there were incredibly advanced for the time, featuring indoor toilets and a grid-based road system.

In my fact-checking, I found these interesting tidbits about Dunluce Castle:

• Dunluce Castle is thought to be the inspiration for Cair Paravel in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia (1950–54).
• in 1973 the castle appeared on the inner gatefold of the Led Zeppelin album Houses of the Holy.
• Exterior shots of Dunluce Castle were used in Game of Thrones for Pyke of House Greyjoy on Pyke Island.