Carra Castle dates to around the early 14th century. The castle lies in a field near the coast and the harbour of Cushendun, known as Murlough Bay. The site had once been used during medieval times as a children's cemetery.
The castle was once occupied by Irish king Shane O'Neill, and Sorley Boy McDonnell was held as a prisoner here in 1565. In 1567, two years after being defeated by O'Neill, the McDonnells entertained him in Castle Carra during two days of hunting and feasting. However, on the third day, 2 June, during a quarrel, they stabbed O'Neill to death to avenge their earlier defeat and sent his head to the English representatives of Queen Elizabeth in Dublin Castle.
In 1585, Donnell Gorm MacDonnell was besieged by the English,; his father, Sorley Boy landed near the castle and drove off the besiegers. Around 1730, it was known to have been occupied by the Lynch family. Today the castle is in ruins and overgrown with ivy.
The house has the characteristics of a hall house, but its outside dimensions are that of a tower house. What remains are the ruins of a 16th-century square tower house built over a Mesolithic flint working site.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.