Dunseverick is a small townland about seven miles west of Ballycastle. Its harbour is still used by local fishermen and makes a pleasant stop for a picnic or short stroll, with toilet facilities on site. The castle ruin sits on a solitary rock along the coast, and a coastal path runs from the Giant’s Causeway through Dunseverick Castle and Harbour, on past Portbraddan and Whitepark Bay, to Ballintoy Harbour — passing a waterfall between the castle and the harbour along the way.
Dunseverick’s real significance is much older than the visible ruin: it was the northern end of Slige Midluachra, one of the five great royal roads said to lead from Tara, seat of the High Kings of Ireland — a mark of real importance in early Ireland. Saint Patrick is reputed to have visited.
The site was held by the Ó Catháin family of the Route from around 1000 to 1320 AD, lost, then regained in the mid-1500s after the MacDonnells and Ó Catháin ousted the McQuillans. The last of the family to hold Dunseverick was Giolla Dubh Ó Catháin, who left in 1657 to settle inland; the family later anglicised their name to McCain or McKane.
Getting there
Take the B15 coast road toward Ballintoy; about 1.5 miles past the village, a signpost for the Giant’s Causeway directs you onto the B146. A further signpost points to Dunseverick Harbour, or continue on to find the castle on the right.