![]() ![]() (They only wanted provisions not possession, and left as soon as the winds were favourable the Royal Navy destroyed them off Galloway.) The castle remained in military use until 1928: Victorian and other additions were then taken away to restore the Norman appearance. ![]() It was besieged and captured several times, including by French privateers in 1760. The best-preserved Norman castle in Ireland, built in 1177 when the site was almost surrounded by water. The town is walkable, but you'll be wanting a car to explore Islandmagee and the Antrim glens. There's free parking at Harbour Car Park next to the castle. It's every 30 min M-Sa and every 90 min or so on Sunday.īy road from Belfast follow M2 onto M5 then A2 the Shore Road. Ulsterbus 563 runs from Belfast Laganside bus station via High St, Ulster University, Yorkgate, Skegonell, Greencastle, Whiteabbey and Greenisland, taking 40 min to Carrickfergus and continuing up Larne Road to Kilroot. Trains also stop at Clipperstown a quarter of a mile west, and Downshire half a mile east towards Larne. Most trains continue to Larne.Ĭarrickfergus 54.717 -5.809 1 railway station is north side of town centre. Trains run every 30 min from Belfast Great Victoria Street via other city stations, Yorkgate (for ferry port) and Whiteabbey (for Newtownabbey), taking 35 min to Carrickfergus a walk-up adult single is about £5. See Belfast for long-distance travel from Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. The TIC is within the Museum & Civic Centre, see below. It's become a commuter town for the city, with a population in 2011 of 27,998. The modern town's fortunes have ebbed and flowed with those of industry and civil stability in Northern Ireland. King William of Orange landed here to campaign against James II / VII, and in 1760 the town was even seized for a few days by French privateers. Until then, Carrickfergus was the place you had to capture to land your troops in Ulster, and the English, Scots and Irish took turns doing so. It long pre-dates Belfast, which only outgrew it in the 18th / 19th century as metal-bashing industries developed, and ships needed deeper harbours. It became a substantial walled town in the Norman period, acquiring the fine castle which today is the main reason to visit. Carraig Fhearghais means "The rock of Fergus" - Fergus the Great (430-501 AD) was King of Dál Riata and it's said his ship hit a rock here.
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