Dalway's Bawn, Dalway's Bawn Road, Carrickfergus, BT38

Dalway's Bawn is a rectangular defensive agricultural complex of great historic importance, built around 1610 on Brade Island in Carrickfergus. It represents a rare surviving example of early Scottish settlement strategy and building practices in Northern Ireland, and though it has lost one flanker and its original timber dwelling house, it retains an impressive external appearance that constitutes a major landmark.

The complex comprises a 9-bay, 2-storey road-fronted range to the east, flanked by a pair of circular-plan towers, each with a gabled projection. A further multi-bay 2-storey range is attached to the north, while to the west stands a 5-bay, 2-storey lean-to building with an additional flanker at its northwest corner. A tall wall encloses the south side of the bawn. Late 20th-century concrete farm buildings occupy the north end of the complex.

The principal eastern building has a hipped corrugated iron roof with gablets to the ridge, a red brick eaves course, and steel rainwater goods to the west elevation only. The north range has a hipped natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and a red brick eaves course. Both circular towers fronting the road have natural slate conical roofs (restored in 1996), surmounted by lead cones and lead valleys to the gabled projections. The southeast flanker carries a stone and red brick chimneystack rising from the west and exhibits a slight bow to its gabled projection. The northeast flanker's projection terminates in a corbie-stepped gable with a carved red sandstone apex-stone. Both flankers and projections have metal box-guttering to red brick eaves.

The principal structures are built of uncoursed rubble stone basalt with lime mortar, featuring squared quoins at the corners and loop-hole openings to the east and north buildings. The towers are of uncoursed rubble basalt with pinnings of knapped flint.

The ground floor of the principal building's east elevation contains square-headed window openings with sandstone ashlar lintels, slate sills, and six-pane steel pivot windows. Voussoired stone arches are visible at the upper floor, now blocked up. A central round-headed door opening is formed in flush voussoired ashlar stonework with a chamfered reveal and is flanked by sidelights and an overlight, behind which stands a later timber plank door. The flankers have square-headed window openings with bipartite red sandstone ashlar splayed frames and central mullions, now glazed in perspex. The north range has had most of its window openings blocked up, with some later square-headed openings formed within steel I-beams. The west elevation of the principal building and the east elevation of the west range feature mostly round-headed window and door openings, formed in flush squared voussoired basalt. The west range contains a round-headed door opening and a segmental-headed carriage arch opening, both with alternating white flint and basalt voussoired stone arches. Some 20th-century timber plank doors remain in place.

According to historical sources, the bawn was built in 1609 following a grant of letters patent from James I to John Dallwaye of Carrickfergus in 1603. Contemporary accounts describe seeing "a fair Bawne 15 foot high with 2 round flankers built by the said Dallaway upon his own land at Brade Island, within which Bawne he erected a pretty house of timber after the English manner thatched for the present but intended to be slated." A 1632 agreement with mason William Miller records the addition of four staircases in the four turrets at £8 each, along with other work including chimneys, pigeon holes, and windows of freestone.

The bawn appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832. Griffith's Valuation of 1859 records "a house, office and lands" occupied by Marriot Dalway, held "in fee" and valued at £55. Valuation Revisions from 1893 to 1904 show the building standing vacant, though still owned by Marriot Dalway. By 1914, the property had been subdivided into "houses" valued at £33 and "offices and yard" occupied by Marriot Dalway and valued at £20 (in 1909).

The site is partly in state care and is recognized as a monument of archaeological significance.