Belfast Castle (Irish: Caisleán Bhéal Feirste) is a mansion located in Cave Hill Country Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in a prominent position above sea level. Its location provides unobstructed views over the City of Belfast and Belfast Lough. There have been several different structures called 'Belfast Castle' over the centuries, located on different sites. The current 'castle' is a Victorian structure, built between 1867 and 1870 on the slopes of Cave Hill, and is listed as being Grade B+. The main entrance into the Belfast Castle Demesne is now where Innisfayle Park meets Downview Park West, just off the Antrim Road (part of the A6). The original main entrance into the current demesne was formerly on the Antrim Road itself, where Strathmore Park now meets the Antrim Road. History Medieval and Early Modern Castle There have been several different structures called 'Belfast Castle' over the centuries; not all of these structures have been on the same site. In fact, all the earlier structures called Belfast Castle were on a completely different site, and in a completely different area of Belfast, from the current Belfast Castle. Originally, a castle had been erected at Béal Feirste (Belfast) by the 1220s, probably to guard the important ford across the River Lagan. This medieval castle may have been built by the Normans, who invaded East Ulster in the late twelfth century. These Norman invaders carved out a territory for themselves which was centred on Carrickfergus, this territory later becoming known as the Earldom of Ulster. By 1333, a small settlement is thought to have developed around the castle at Belfast. This original 'Belfast Castle', located on what later became the County Antrim side of the River Lagan, was probably in the area now bounded by Donegall Place, Castle Place, Cornmarket, and Castle Lane in the centre of what is now Belfast City Centre. Although originally built in either the late twelfth-century or the early thirteenth-century, this castle was 'rebuilt' on several occasions between the 1220s and the 1550s, possibly being 'rebuilt' on the same site or on an adjacent site. This original, medieval castle was almost certainly on, or very near, the same site as the much later 'Plantation-era' castle developed for Lord Chichester. This original High Medieval, Late Medieval and Early Modern castle site was on the southern bank of the River Farset (which now flows beneath High Street), being located on