Radiocarbon measurements made by AMS in the aragonite skeletons of sclerosponges were used in early attempts to establish age models facilitating the analysis of time series of geochemical proxy data from their skeletal archives.  Ambiguity in the age models arose from very old surface ages (~500 y) of the sclerosponge measured and high errors on the actual radiocarbon age estimates.  The measurements were later shelved in favor of less ambiguous U-series age estimates.  The subsequent establishment and refinement of U-series age models for sclerosponges as well as a better understanding of subsurface oceanography in the subtropical N. Atlantic Ocean has enabled a re-interpretation of radiocarbon measurements.  It is well established that sclerosponges deposit their aragonite basal skeletons in near isotopic equilibrium with seawater, and the species Ceratoporella nicholsoni records the d¹³C Suess effect in skeletons from throughout the Caribbean basin.  Using d¹³C depletion to verify U-series age models, pre-bomb radiocarbon age estimates are higher than expected for the relatively young subsurface waters in which a sclerosponge from Tongue of the Ocean (Bahamas) was sampled.  Here, the radiocarbon data are re-assessed to evaluate their use as subsurface circulation proxies in the N. Atlantic subtropical convection cell.