towers round down

It was built as a manorial residence of the Bishops of Down, and is attributed to John Sely who became bishop in 1413, but was deprived of his See in 1441 for having lived in the castle with a married woman. If the date be correct, this would make Kilclief the oldest known tower-house in Ireland.

It was garrisoned for the Crown by Nicholas Fitzsymon and ten warders in 1601-2. The entrance to the four storey tower was on the east side, protected by two flanking towers which are joine...

The rectangular church, possibly of c. 1200, and the now-featureless Round Tower (reduced to a stump in a storm around 1710) both probably belonged to a monastery founded by St. Domangart of Donard in the 6th century on a site probably now occupied by Maghera Church of Ireland church. Excavations in 1965 provided evidence of occupation near the tower during the Early Christian period....