posted 01-01-2001 05:24 PM         

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Dear Anyone,
Do you know anything about Carrickfergus Castle? It is for a school project I am working on. Thanks!

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*hi to Justin, Brittany, Britteny, Jared, & Emma*

posted 01-02-2001 12:09 PM            

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Carrickfergus (Antrim)
Said to date back to the 1380s, when John de Courcy from Somerset, who by then was conquering much of eastern Ulster. Perhaps it was the mid 1380s when he started his four storey tower\keep, which lay within a fair sized court (17m by 27m).

When he was beaten by Hugh de Lacy (1204), Hugh became Earl Of Ulster. Finishing or improving many of the works that John had started.
Henry III went to town on the rock where the keep lay, fully enclosing it, also adding an excellent twin towered gate house. Much damage may have been caused by the long siege by Edward Bruce (1315-16), because this gatehouse was remodelled about 1320.
In its long and varied history it has been a prison and administrative centre, and handed over to the Ministry of Finance in 1928, who would then look to its preservation.
This a very brief outline of an important and well preserved site, I'm sure a few of the others will fill in greater detail for you.