Dunluce Castle and VillageVisitor Centre Proposal - Group Five

Sunset over Dunluce Castle

Site Context

●'Northern Ireland’s most iconic historical site.' (Breen, Murray, Reid and Robinson, 2011)

●History dating back to the early medieval period.

●Castle, built in the late fifteenth century and abandoned in the late seventeenth.

●Adjacent settlement last excavated in January 2012, which comprises some medieval buildings and a seventeenth century village.

Aurora Borealis over Dunluce Castle

Our Aim

To preserve existing facilities, and use a new interpretative centre to engage with, and further develop visitor understanding

of, this historic site.

Historical Assessment - Castle

●Pre-Norman inhabitation (souterrain).

●Castle dates to late 15th century.

●Expanded and took current form 1600-1636.

Historical Assessment - Village

●Sir Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl establishes the village in 1608.

●The settlement included cobbled streets, with houses on either side.

●Blacksmith's workshop- located at the junction of two streets, constituted a social area within the community.

●St Cuthbert's Church- built on site of previous Anglo-Norman church in early 1600s.

● Other principal village buildings and features: mill, court-house, the 'pound', 'diamond' area which served as market-place.

● Dunluce village fair: typical fair of period, continued after castle and village abandonment until the 1740s.

Historical Assessment - Inhabitants

●MacQuillans (the Route).

●Sorley Boy MacDonnell.●Sir Randal MacDonnell (Ist Earl of Antrim).

●Sir Randal MacDonnell (1st Marquess of Antrim) and Katherine MacDonnell (née Villiers).

Lady Katherine Manners Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

Genealogy of the MacDonnell family

Historical Assessment - Wider themes

●Scoto-Irish history - The Route, the Glynns and Lairds of the Isles.

●Plantation of Ulster - MacDonnell resistance and involvement.

●Spanish armada- La Girona wrecked off north coast in 1588.

●Irish Rebellion 1641 - village razed.

Wreck of la Girona

Historical Assessment - post-1690

●MacDonnells impoverished after Jacobite uprising.

●18th century - castle falls into disrepair, Dunluce Fair.

●19th century -ruins begin to feature in art/tourism

●1928 - castle moves into state care.

The Proposal

●An interpretative centre, with three exhibition spaces, classroom/conferencing facilities, cafeteria, toilets, and park-and-ride, constructed in as environmentally friendly manner as possible.

●Limited public access to archaeological work, with some work preserved in situ.

●Full visitor access to castle.

The Centre - Exhibits●Exhibition Space One: Permanent exhibit, focusing on the village.

●Exhibition Space Two: Permanent exhibit, dealing with the history of the castle and its inhabitants.

●Exhibition Space Three: Temporary exhibitions, broadly aimed at exploring the wider historical context of the site.

●Potential exhibits: La Girona, pre-Plantation Ulster, other travelling exhibits.

The Centre - Facilities

●Classroom/conferencing facilities: Space for up to 50 people, aimed at school groups and small conferences.

●Cafeteria: To provide refreshments, snacks and light meals for visitors.

●Park-and-ride: Limited parking facilities to reduce ecological impact on site.

●Gift shop: Souvenirs and educational items.

The Excavation

●Archaeological work to continue, with some pieces preserved in situ to engage public interest and help them understand the work being carried out.

●Public access limited to where it will not interfere with ongoing excavation.

●Funded by ongoing excavation work

The Castle

●Preservation work to continue. ●No signage, except where required for health and safety,in order to preserve integrity of the building.

●Information sheets available from visitor centre to convey information.

●Free app available to enhance multimedia experience.

The Visitor Experience

●Individual visitors able to visit exhibition spaces during opening hours, as well some areas of the excavation.

●Group tours of castle at specific times.●Groups able to visit the exhibits, and take a guided tour of the castle, with curriculum specific worksheets available, and guided tours of the excavation where appropriate.

Public InterestVisitor figures from comparable and nearby attractions allow us to project an increased number of visitors:

Average visitors 2005-2010

Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge: 215 649Carrickfergus Castle: 61 563Dunluce Castle: 70 905Giant's Causeway: 610 087

Potential Dunluce visitors: 200 000+

The North Coast

Map of Causeway Coast and surrounds

The North Coast

●10% of all tourist accommodation in NI located in Coleraine Borough Council area.

●Adjacent areas (Ballymoney, Coleraine, Limavady, Magherafelt and Moyle) have 16% (3 873 beds).

●Pre-established second home and caravan destination.

Projected Difficulties

●Ecological impact.●Capital expenditure/start-up costs.●Preserving castle/site with increased number of visitors.

●Interference with archaeology.

Business Plan

●Funding model.●Conferencing facilities, hire, café allow site to be self-financing by second financial year.

●Limited overheads: sustainability built-in, leading to lower utility costs.

●Marketing strategy: social media, initial media campaign.

Capital expenditure

●Building, fitting,start-up costs.(£735,000)

●Initial marketing campaign. (£50,000)●Multimedia costs. (£15,000)

Initial funding

●Start-up cost covered by grant.●Facilities allow site to become self-financing.

Operating expenditure

●Labour costs. (£387,000)●Technology/utilities. (£48,200)●Maintenance. (£80,000)

Income

●Tickets (£520,000)●Café (£156,000)●Gift shop (£100,000)●Conferencing (£19,000)

●Hire (£4,500)●Outside events

Marketing●Take same approaches as those used by NI Tourist Board, NI Museum Services etc.

●Targeted audience - newspapers, radio, target Ireland and UK, particularly Scotland.

●Website with apps in foreign languages●Full social media presence

Governmental agencies and boards

●Northern Ireland Tourist Board

●Discover Northern Ireland

●Ulster Scots Agency

Advertising Campaign●Print Media

●Radio Advertising

●Promotional Literature

●Educational booklets

Education

●Primary school groups - curriculum sections 'The World Around Us' and 'Life in Early Times'.

●AS modules 'Spain and Europe (1556-1592)'

'Anglo-Spanish relations (1509-1609)'.●A2 modules 'England (1570-1603)' 'Ireland (1607-1691)'.

●Early modern history/archaeology.

Web Presence

●New Website

●Social Media

Thank You

Patrick BurnsJames FretwellJohn Mc Caul

Eleanor McCartanStuart Mathieson

Alex Newton