Template:Wp-Dunaneeny Castle

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Dunaneeny Castle (or Dunineny Castle, Irish Dún an Aonaigh) is a ruined castle on the outskirts of Ballycastle in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The castle was home to the chiefs of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg and later the MacDonnells of Antrim. The castle is purported to be the birthplace of Scottish-Irish chief Sorley Boy MacDonnell.

Established by Alexander MacDonnell in 1550, Dunaneeny held a commanding position overlooking Port Brittas (Ballycastle Bay) in which galleys brought over from Kintyre and the Isles would shelter.

Ballycastle's famous Ould Lammas Fair is said to have started in the grounds around Dunaneeny Castle, now known as Castle Head. In 1571 Sorley Boy MacDonnell ordered the celebration of public games for the coming of age of his nephew Gillaspick MacDonnell. Bullfighting was one of the events in which Gillaspick tried but he was gored by the bull and died. The Lammas Fair can trace its origins to these games and the sheep markets held in the area.

According to letters written by the Earl of Essex, it was from the cliffs at Dunaneeny Castle on the Irish mainland that Sorley Boy MacDonnell helplessly watched the Rathlin Island massacre.

The ruins of the castle is located on the cliffs overlooking Ballycastle Bay, behind a caravan park, with only a few walls of the gatehouse remaining.