a town in the province of Ulster, in Ireland, which, with a small surrounding district, forms one of the eight counties of towns which enjoy an exclusive jurisdiction, separate from that of the county within which they are situated. It lies on the northern side of Carrickfergus Bay, called also the Lough of Belfast, and is surrounded on all other sides by the county of Antrim. The length and breadth of the whole county are about four miles each. A ridge of high ground extends along it from east to west, terminating on its western extremity by Slieve-truc, a mountain which rises to the height of 1100 feet above the level of the sea, and commands an extensive prospect.
About three miles to the north of the town of Carrickfergus, on an elevated range, upwards of 550 feet above the level of the sea, is Lough Morne, remarkable as being the largest sheet of fresh water at the same altitude in Ireland. Though its supply of water is extremely scanty, a stream issues from it containing a body of water sufficient, even during the driest seasons, to turn the works of a cotton-mill situated near the sea-side. The only river in this district worthy of the name is the Woodburn, formed of two branches, on each of which there is a fine cascade; its stream supplies several mills and print-fields. The Silverstream and Copeland rivers are mere rivulets, remarkable only as marking the bounds of the county to the west and east.
The town of Carrickfergus itself, from which the county and the adjoining bay take their names, is the only place of any consequence within the district. It takes its name from a large rock, in Irish carrick, projecting into the sea, on which its castle is built; and from Fergus, one of the ancient kings of Scotland, supposed to have been drowned in the neighbourhood. It was a place little known till the arrival of the English; soon after which event John de Courcy, to whom Henry II. had granted all the parts of Ulster he could gain possession of by his sword, fixed here a colony, which soon acquired stability and importance. Yet during the earlier period of its existence it was subject to many vicissitudes of fortune. In the reign of Edward II. it was taken by Edward Bruce, in his expedition to assert his right to the throne of Ireland. In 1386 it was burned by the Scotch, and in 1400 again destroyed by the combined forces of the Scotch and Irish, who had defeated an English fleet near Strangford. Subsequently it suffered much by famine and by the occasional assaults of the neighbouring Irish chieftains, whose favour the townsmen were at length necessitated to secure by the payment of an annual tribute.
In the reign of Elizabeth its value as a military and commercial position was better appreciated. It obtained a charter, which confirmed its former extensive privileges, and added some new rights. The town was fortified by a substantial wall, strengthened with seven bastions. The corporation was also regulated. The mayor enjoyed the jurisdiction of high admiral of the adjoining seas, from Fairhead in the county of Antrim, to the Beerlooms, a point of land near the entrance of Strangford Lough in the county of Down. This charter was confirmed by James I. who added the additional right of sending two burgesses to parliament. It now became a place of considerable importance. At the commencement of the civil wars in 1641, an attempt to surprise it, made by Sir Henry McNeil, was baffled by the vigilance of the governor, Colonel Arthur Chichester. It then became the principal place of refuge for the Protestants from the neighbouring counties. Shortly afterwards it was taken possession of by General Munroe on the part of the king; but, after holding it for some time, he was surprised and sent prisoner to England by Monk the parliamentary general, who, as a reward for this piece of service, was made governor, and received a grant of a sum of £500. In the year 1689 it surrendered on terms to General Schomberg on the part of King William, but not till its ammunition had been wholly exhausted. Soon afterwards it was visited by William in person, on his arrival in Ireland to head his troops previously to the battle of the Boyne. The town's people still point out the precise stone on the quay where that monarch first set foot. In the beginning of the year 1760 it was unexpectedly surprised by a small French squadron commanded by M. Thurot, who, after holding it for a few days, evacuated it as quickly as he had entered it, in order to meet an English squadron which was in pursuit of him, and in an action with which he lost his life. In the year 1778 the town was again alarmed by the sudden appearance of the celebrated Paul Jones, who, however, made no attempt on it.
The town extends along the sea-shore about a mile. It consists of three parts; the town within the walls, the Irish quarter on the west, and the Scotch quarter on the east. The principal building is the castle, standing on the projecting rock already mentioned, and surrounded by a wall of masonry, planted with about twenty pieces of artillery. The ancient keep or donjon is still in perfect preservation. It is ninety feet high.
The parish church, an antiquated structure, in the shape of a cross, formed by the intersection of two narrow aisles, was originally a chapel or oratory dependent on a Franciscan monastery in another part of the town. The entrance of a subterraneous passage leading to it is still visible under the communion table of the church. One of the aisles is the private property of the Chichester family, who used it as a cemetery.
The court-house of the county of Antrim, a neat modern building of a single story, forms the termination of the principal street. Close to it is the jail of the same county, built on the site of the monastery already mentioned, which, after the suppression of those buildings by Henry VIII., fell into the hands of the Chichester family. The corporation of Carrickfergus at present maintains no court-house or prison of its own.
The other public buildings in the town are meeting-houses for dissenters, methodists, and independents. The town can boast of no literary institution of any kind what- soever. It has, however, several of a charitable nature, as Lancasterian and Sunday schools. By a bequest of Henry Gill, a freeman, fourteen decayed old townsmen enjoy a residence and an annual allowance of £10 each; and by another of Henry Adair, the interest of £2000 is annually distributed among poor freemen. Formerly these bequests were seldom sought after, but now the applications for them are numerous. The suburbs, called the Irish and Scotch quarters, are chiefly inhabited by fishermen.
The government of the corporation is vested in a mayor, seventeen aldermen, and twenty-four burgesses, who together form the assembly, and exercise the right of enacting bye-laws and creating freemen. The freemen have no share in the local legislation. Their number amounts to about 800. The other corporate officers are two sheriffs, a recorder, a treasurer, two coroners, a town-clerk, a sword-bearer, and four sergeants-at-mace. The trades of the town are formed into seven guilds, each under the control of a master and two wardens; the hammermen or carpenters are considered as the most respectable.
The few villages within the precincts of the county are very small, the largest containing only thirty-five houses. Gentlemen's seats are frequent along the coast, and add considerably to the appearance of the prospect. With the exception of their plantations, there is scarcely any standing timber, although strong evidence of the country having been formerly well wooded appears in the number of trunks of trees raised from the bogs, in one of which, situated on the shore beyond high-water mark, and therefore covered with sand and other marine deposits, there have been found, together with the trees, hazel-nuts, some of which were in a state of petrifaction. Petrified hazelnuts, and many other scarce fossil remains, are also found on the banks of Woodburn river.
The chief minerals found here are basalt and limestone. The searches for coal have been uniformly unsuccessful. Gypsum is raised in large quantities, and conveyed to Belfast for exportation. A mineral spring, containing a purging nitrous salt, is situated in the eastern part of the town; and about a mile farther east is a pure saline spring, said to be the only one of the kind in Ireland. Near Lough Morne is a sulphurous chalybeate spring, once frequented, but latterly totally neglected.
The only manufacture carried on to a considerable extent is the cotton, which has wholly superseded that of linen. It gives work to three large factories, and as many print-fields. In the town there are a brewery and a distillery. The farms are small, except in the interior and hilly parts, where grazing is the principal occupation. Wheat is little sown, the chief crops being oats and potatoes, for which sea-weed, generally mixed with lime and vegetable matter, forms the manure. Cheese of excellent quality is made in the neighbourhood of the town.
According to the ecclesiastical arrangements of Ireland, this county forms a single rectory in the diocese of Connor. It now constitutes part of the corps of the deanery. It is rated in the king's book at £8 for first fruits; but its actual annual value, as ascertained under the tithe composition act, is £400.
A weekly market is held in the town on Saturdays, and fairs take place on the 12th of May and 1st of November. According to the latest observations, Carrickfergus is in long. 5° 47' W. and lat. 54° 43' N.
The population, taken at different periods, was as follows:
| Year | Houses | Inhabitants | |------|--------|------------| | 1813 | 517 | 6225 | | 1821 | 615 | 8030 | | 1831 | | 8698 |
From the returns of the population taken in 1813 and 1821, the proportions of the two great religious persuasions were as follows:
| Year | Protestants, including Dissenters | Roman Catholics | Unaccounted | |------|----------------------------------|----------------|-------------| | 1813 | 5582 | 554 | 89 | | 1821 | 6707 | 917 | 346 |
The returns of the late census of 1831 afford no information on this or other similar important results.
The state of education, as collected from the population returns in 1821, and from the reports of the commissioners of education in 1824-5, give the following results:
| Schools | Male Pupils | Female Pupils | Total | |---------|-------------|---------------|-------| | 1821 | 25 | 427 | 343 | | | | | 570 | | 1824-5 | 12 | 291 | 175 | | | | | 466 |
McSkimin's History of Carrickfergus; Dubourdieu's Statistical Survey of Antrim; Nimmo's Survey of the Irish Coast; Parliamentary Returns; Reports of the Commissioners of Education in 1824-5; Historical Collections on Belfast.