[Extracts from the Carrickfergus list by Gordon Campbell and Susan Crowther, published by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society in 1978.]
The castle is the most important building in the town and is
arguably the finest military monument in Ireland. Magnificently
sited on an isolated basaltic promontory, it has survived the
accretion of car parks and storage tanks and still dominates the
town and its approaches from land and sea. It is remarkable for
its continued military occupation of almost 800 years, which has
caused many alterations to the castle's fabric. However, the different
building materials used over the centuries blend well to achieve
a pleasing unity overall. The castle was founded by John de Courcy
about 1180 A.D. and was his main stronghold until his fall in
1204. Hugh de Lacy succeeded him as Earl of Ulster, but his tenure
was interrupted by King John's punitive expedition which led to
the siege and capture of Carrickfergus in 1210. De Lacy returned
and attempted to take the castle in 1224, but was subsequently
restored to the Earldom. Upon his death in 1242, the Earldom reverted
to the Crown, and was then bestowed on the de Burgh family in
1264. During the Bruce invasion of 1315 the English forces were
defeated at Connor, and retreated to Carrickfergus. There followed
a year-long siege, during which the garrison were reported to
have eaten eight Scots prisoners.
Following the collapse of the Earldom in 1333, the castle remained
in the Crown's hands as the only English stronghold in the North,
but little is known of its history at this period. It was a place
of great importance during the late 16th and early 17th century
reconquest of Ulster, but was gradually eclipsed by the growth
of Belfast, and both castle and town declined. It was besieged
and taken by Schomberg in 1689, in advance of William's arrival,
and again by Thurot during the French raid of 1760. It was handed
over to the Ancient Monuments Branch in 1928, but its last military
use came when part of the building was used as an air raid shelter
during World War II.
The earliest building phase saw the erection of a polygonal curtain
wall at the south end of the promontory, marked by dressings in
local red sandstone. This wall was then raised in height and the
massive keep constructed; the dressings were now of the creamy-yellow
Cultra stone. All of this work was ordered by de Courcy and probably
completed by about 1200. The Keep is entered at first floor level,
above a range of barrel-vaulted chambers. The first floor is ill-lit,
but provided with a double latrine, and probably functioned as
a lobby. The second floor is furnished with a fine fire-place
and latrine; the third floor, spacious and well-lit with finely-dressed
windows, presumably served as the private quarters of de Courcy
and his successors. The first and second floors are divided by
a blocking wall inserted shortly after the first building. The
great arch in the third floor accompanied a later raising of the
roof. In the east inner curtain wall, two fine windows attest
the former existence of a hall-type building. Just outside the
inner ward, the middle curtain is encountered, cutting across
the promontory north of the keep, and apparently intended to improve
the defences rather than expand the living area.
During the 18th century the landward side, including a polygonal
tower, was "slighted" to ground level. The east and
west towers survive; that on the east has a particularly fine
group of arrowslits on the ground floor. Excavation in the 1950's
revealed a rock-cut ditch outside the curtain wall. The date of
the middle ward is not certain. Money was granted in 1210-12 but
in amounts sufficient only for repairs. However, the castle was
ordered to be fortified in 1216, and £100 was made available
to the custodian in 1217, so it is likely that the middle ward
was then begun. The outer ward was added some time towards the
mid-13th century and enclosed the remainder of the promontory.
There are two polygonal towers to the west but the major feature
is the double-towered gatehouse. The twin towers were originally
circular and taller, but were altered to their present height
and D-shape to accommodate artillery in the late 16th century
At the same time brick-lined gun-ports were cut through the curtain
walls. The upper room in the east tower is called 'the chapel'
and contains a fine late 12th century window; this is an obvious
insertion, probably taken from the keep or inner ward. The gate
passage is remarkable for a series of blocked pointed arches,
the rib-vaulting, a 'murder-hole' and the portcullis and gear
- this is a modern replacement. The outer ward was formerly occupied
by residential buildings and stores, the latest of which were
swept away after 1928.
It still has a fine series of cannon - two early guns on the north
(recently remounted) and a range of 20 pounder and 32 pounder
early l9th century guns on the east sitting on 24 pounder carriages
above a range of vaulted chambers. In the later 19th century the
south and east defences were improved, and 68 pounder guns survive
in their granite emplacements. Four six-inch guns were added before
the 1914-18 war; only their mounts survive. The gate-passage was
originally approached from the north, across a large rock-cut
which was crossed by a movable bridge. This was filled in about
1300, and by the mid-16th century the present approach was adapted,
curling around the foot of the west gatehouse tower, and still
defended by a wall bearing splayed gunloops. No other traces of
the outworks defending the approach survived the building of the
Marine Highway.
Refs: Dixon, p.15; Maps 1550, 1560, 1567, 1612, 1821; Guide
Card, Dept. of Finance Hist. Mons. Branch; Lewis; McSkimin, pp
156 60, 165-7; Town Guide (1939) pp. 65 & 76; A.M.N.I., Vol.I,
H.M.S.0., pp. 9-12.
Go to Publications or
to Index