Taymouth Castle

By boat from Cushendall harbour head north. The wreck lies approx. 1km north of Tornamoney Point, about 200m off the shore

Free car parking and public toilets are available at Cushendall caravan park / Cushendall Sailing and Boating Club. There is a slipway, but priority is given to the RNLI and berthing is not allowed. For use contact Cushendall/Ballycastle Harbour Office: 02820768525 / 07803505084.

Nearest tank filling is Aquaholics, Portstewart/Ballycastle (call in advance: 028 7083 2584)

The wreck is broken up across the rocky seabed, along with broken crockery. This was a partially wooden wreck and the wooden parts can be seen along with the copper bottom and nails. there are large brass bolts holding the wooden beams together. A very bright dive amongst the rocks and weed.

Date of loss 05/01/1867. A full-rigged composite ship of iron and wood, 52m in length. Built in 1865 in Glasgow. En route from Glasgow to Singapore with a general cargo of spirits, beer, cotton, pottery and saddlery. One of the castle line of ships. Stranded and lost with all hands. Eleven bodies were recovered and are said to have been buried in a mass grave near Layd; a large mound is said to be still visible. Relocated by sports divers in the 1970s and ‘heavily plundered’. In 1995 a survey and short excavation under license from NI Gov was carried out by Management for Archaeology Underwater (MAU) in order to obtain a representative sample of the cargo (see Breen 1996; Breen and Forsythe 2004). The wreck lies in 15m of water, 70m offshore at the base of steep boulder cliffs. This is an important wreck and a potential candidate for protection. Please do not carelessly damage the site further. Condition assessments would be welcomed by the Historic Environment Division (see ‘Record Heritage’).

Information drawn from Historic Environment Record of Northern Ireland (HERoNI), Department for Communities, Historic Environment Division.

Aquaholics

Irish Wrecks Online