They looted the castle and town and then left, only to be caught by the Royal Navy. In 1760, after fierce fighting in the town, it was surrendered to French invaders under the command of Francois Thurot. This is also the place where Schomberg's leader, King William III first set foot in Ireland on 14 June 1690. Marshal Schomberg besieged and took the castle in the week-long Siege of Carrickfergus in 1689. And in 1597, the surrounding country was the scene for the Battle of Carrickfergus.ĭuring the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries improvements were made to accommodate artillery, including externally splayed gunports and embrasures for cannon, though these improvements did not prevent the castle from being attacked and captured on many occasions during this time. During the early stages of the Nine Years War (1595–1603), when English influence in the north became tenuous,Ĭrown forces were supplied and maintained through the town's port. It was finished by King Henry III.Īfter 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. The ribbed vault over the entrance passage, the murder hole and the massive portcullis at either end of the gatehouse are later insertions started by Hugh de Lacey who died in 1248 and did not live to see its completion in around 1250. 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.Ī 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. 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. Following its capture, constables were appointed to command the castle and the surrounding area. The castle also appears in the official English records in 1430 when King John laid siege to it and took control of what was then Ulster's premier strategic garrison. Lord Edmund Savage of the Ards was Seneschal of Ulster and Constable of Carrickfergus Castle in the late 14th century under Richard II. From its strategic position on a rocky promontory, originally almost surrounded by sea, the castle commanded Carrickfergus Bay (later known as Belfast Lough), and the land approaches into the walled town that developed beneath its shadow. It had several buildings, including the great hall. 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. Origins Ĭarrickfergus was built by John de Courcy in 1177 as his headquarters, after he conquered eastern Ulster and ruled as a petty king until 1204, when he was ousted by another Norman adventurer, Hugh de Lacy. Today it is maintained by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency as a state care historic monument, at grid ref: J4143 8725. It was strategically useful, with 3/4 of the castle perimeter surrounded by water (although in modern times only 1/3 is surrounded by water due to land reclamation). Besieged in turn by the Scottish, native Irish, English, and French, the castle played an important military role until 1928 and remains one of the best preserved medieval structures in Northern Ireland. Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish Carraig Ḟergus or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of Belfast Lough.
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