Glenarm Castle Gardens

Glenarm Castle is the family home of Randal and Aurora McDonnell, the Earl and Countess of Antrim. Having originated from the Western Isles of Scotland, the McDonnells first came to Glenarm over 600 years ago. The present castle was built by the first Earl of Antrim in 1636 only to be burnt down 6 years later by a Scots Covenanter army during the Civil War. It remained a roofless ruin for 100 years before being re-built and remodelled by the 5th Earl of Antrim in the mid-18th Century. In the 1820s it was transformed once again by Anne Catherine, Countess of Antrim. With the help of architect William Vitruvius Morrison, she gothicised the house adding pepper pot turrets, the Barbican Gate lodge as well as the romantic battlement style walls which surround the lower part of the castle demesne. In the house you will see superb examples of 18th century Irish furniture as well as portraits of family members going back to the early 17th century.

While the Walled Garden is open daily during the season, the Castle is open for tours on certain dates throughout the season (please check our website for details). It can also be booked for group tours with the Castle Butler subject to availability.