Everything about Carrickfergus Castle totally explained
Carrickfergus Castle is a
Norman castle in
Northern Ireland, situated in the town of
Carrickfergus in
County Antrim, on the shore of
Belfast Lough. Besieged in turn by the
Scots,
Irish,
English and
French, the castle played an important military role until 1928 and remains one of the best preserved medieval structures in the whole of
Ireland. It was useful as 3/4 of the perimeter is covered by water. Today it's maintained by the
Environment and Heritage Service as a State Care Historic Monument, at grid ref: J4143 8725.
Origins
Carrickfergus Castle was built by
John de Courcy in
1177 as his
headquarters, after he conquered eastern
Ulster in 1177 and ruled as a petty king until
1204, when he was ousted by another
Norman adventurer,
Hugh de Lacy. Initially
de Courcy built the inner ward, a small
bailey at the end of the promontory with a high polygonal curtain wall and east gate. It had a number of buildings, including the
great hall. From its strategic position on a rocky promontory, originally almost surrounded by sea, the castle commanded
Belfast Lough, and the land approaches into the walled town that developed beneath its shadows.
English control
It appears first in the official
English records in
1210 when
King John laid siege to it and took control of what was then
Ulster’s premier strategic garrison. Following its capture, constables were appointed to command the castle and the surrounding area. In 1217 the new constable,
De Serlane, was assigned one hundred pounds to build a new curtain wall so that the approach along the rock could be protected, as well as the eastern approaches over the sand exposed at low tide. The middle-ward curtain wall was later reduced to ground level in the
eighteenth century, save along the seaward side, where it survives with a postern gate and the east tower, notable for a fine array of
cross-bow loops at basement level.
A
chamber on the first floor of the east tower is believed to have been the castle's
chapel on account of its fine
Romanesque-style double window surround, though the original chapel must have been in the inner ward. The ribbed vault over the entrance passage, the
murder hole and the massive
portcullis at either end of the
gatehouse are later insertions, probably part of the remodelling that followed
Edward Bruce's long and bitter siege of
1315-
1316.
After the collapse of the
Earldom of Ulster in
1333, the castle remained the
Crown's principal residential and administrative centre in the north of
Ireland. During the early stages of the
Nine Years War (1595-1603), when English influence in the north became tenuous,
crown forces were supplied and maintained through the town's port. And in 1597, the surrounding country was the scene for the
Battle of Carrickfergus.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a number of improvements were made to accommodate
artillery, notably externally splayed gunports and embrasures for
cannon, though these improvements didn't prevent the castle from being attacked and captured on many occasions during this time.
General Schomberg besieged and took the castle in
1690. This is also the place where Schomberg's leader,
King William III first set foot in Ireland on
14 June,
1690.
In
1760, after fierce fighting in the town, it was surrendered to French invaders under the command of
Francois Thurot. They looted the castle and town and then left, only to be caught by the
British Navy.
Later use
In
1778, a small but significant event in the
American War of Independence began at Carrickfergus, when
John Paul Jones, in the face of reluctance by his crew to approach too close to the Castle, lured a
British Royal Navy vessel from its moorings into the
North Channel, and won an
hour-long battle. In
1797 the Castle, which had on various occasions been used to house prisoners of war, became a
prison and it was heavily defended during the
Napoleonic Wars; six guns on the east battery remain of the twenty-two that were used in
1811.
For a century it remained a magazine and
armoury. During the
First World War it was used as a
garrison and ordnance store and during the
Second World War as an
air raid shelter.
It was garrisoned continuously for about 750 years until
1928, when its ownership was transferred to the
government for preservation as an ancient
monument and it's open to the public. The banqueting hall has been fully restored and there are many exhibits to show what life was like in
medieval times.
Further Information
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