The story of Donaghadee Moat
The mound itself is the oldest part by far. The Anglo-Normans raised this motte in the late 12th century as a defensive earthwork, and it grew into one of the largest in Ulster. For centuries it stood as a grassy hill above the small port of Donaghadee, long before the castle on top existed.
The little turreted building came much later. Around 1821 a picturesque castle, the Gunpowder Store, was built on the summit to hold the explosives needed for the construction of Donaghadee's 'new' harbour, then a major engineering project on the County Down coast. The motte and its surrounding ground are now a Scheduled Monument, and the Gunpowder Store is a Listed Building, both owned by Ards and North Down Borough Council.
In 2021 the Gunpowder Store was conserved and restored under the Donaghadee Townscape Heritage Initiative, funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund and the council. As part of that work, a camera obscura was installed in the restored building, fixed to the lower roof to project an image of the town onto a table inside.
It reopened to the public in 2022 following roughly £300,000 of investment, and now claims the only camera obscura accessible to the public on the island of Ireland. The result is a single small hill that carries 800 years of Donaghadee's history, from Norman earthwork to harbour-era magazine to a working optical curiosity you can step inside.