Killyleagh is in County Down, Ireland. It is located on the southwest shore of Strangford Lough. This is an area of great beauty, with a breathtaking landscape.
Sailing is a very popular sport in this village.
The turreted castle was originally built by John de Courcy in 1180.
It was destroyed by General Monk in 1648 and rebuilt by the Hamiltons.
The castle has been in the present owner’s family since 1640.
The village grew up around the tower.
Harold Nicholson described it over a century ago as “pricking castellated ears above the smoke of its own village and towering like some chateau of the Loire above the tides of Strangford Lough.”
Today, it is the oldest inhabited castle in Ireland.
This is the area into which Archibald and Adam McKee were born.
Little information is available as to what the area was like in the 1700’s, but apparently little has changed throughout the centuries.
What a beautiful area it must have been to live in.
As Archibald and his family prepared to leave for the New World, I can only imagine how their desire for one last look of their beloved homeland.
Such beauty… I wish one day to cast my eyes on its lovely homeland imagine
I am the 5th great granddaughter of a Jennet McKee who is possibly related to this castle.
Awesome!
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