King John later released him to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. John de Courcy later tried to reclaim the Castle but was unsuccessful and was sentenced to life in prison. In 1210 and in 2017 de Lacy added a larger castle curtain wall to protect the eastern side and a massive portcullis at the gatehouse and a vault all of which were finished in 1250. John de Courcy came under attack by King John’s soldiers led by Hugh de Lacy and lost the castle. John commissioned Hugh de Lacy a Norman Lord living south of Dublin to bring de Courcy to heel. When Richard died in 1199 his brother John became King of England and he did care about Ireland and felt that John de Courcy had usurped and set up his own kingdom. John de Courcy managed to build the castle and rule the area because Richard the Lionheart simply didn’t give a toss about Ireland in fact he barely cared about being King of England either. A statue of her sits on a high wall in Carrickfergus with a plaque that says “thinking of home”. John de Courcy was married to Affreca de Courcy or Affrica Guðrøðardóttir was a late 12th-century noblewoman.Īffreca is noted for religious patronage in northern Ireland and founded Grey Abbey, on the Ards peninsula. The original castle included a bailey, with an inner wall and a great hall with a curtain wall built around the exterior to protect the castle from the sea. The Castle was built by John de Courcy in 1177 and used as his headquarters until around 1204 when Courcy lost the castle to Hugh de Lacy. Train – You can get a train from Belfast Central (which is not in the city centre but on the edge of it) or Great Victoria Street (which is in the city centre) train stations to Carrickfergus, the train line you will travel on will be the Larne line.īus – A bus leaves from the Duncairn Yorkgate Station around every half an hour to Carrickfergus Joymount station the journey takes around 40 minutes.ġ01 Landmarks in Northern Ireland When was Carrickfergus Castle built?
LADY CARRICKFERGUS HOW TO
How to get to Carrickfergus Castle from BelfastĬar – Carrickfergus is about 11 miles or 17km from Belfast and an easy drive if you have rented a car.
LADY CARRICKFERGUS TV
No, the Castle wasn’t used in the Game of Thrones TV Series, but it makes a great start to a Causeway Coast Tour and it truly is a beautiful location to begin your site seeing tour of Northern Ireland. Was Carrickfergus Castle used in Game of Thrones?
The Castle is open to the public daily all year round but the hours do vary a little. Today it is maintained by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency as a state historic monumentĦ0 Best Northern Ireland tourist attractions When is Carrickfergus Castle open? The Castle also hosts civil weddings and you can hire the castle for private parties in the dungeons and other events.Ĭarrickfergus Castle comes from the Irish Carraig Ḟergus or “cairn of Fergus”, the name “Fergus” meaning “strong man”. On the grounds, there are displays of canons dating from the 17 th to 19 th centuries and exhibits throughout the grounds of the castle. Historians believe that the east Tower was the location of the Chapel and it has a chamber on the first floor with crossbow loops found on the basement levels and a Romanesque double window. It has the remains of its original curtain wall with a tower on the east side and a postern gate on the seaward side. The Castle is extremely well-preserved and considered one of the finest examples of medieval castles in Ireland. The Castle is now home to a newly refurbished Visitors Centre, ancient cannons and fascinating historical displays.īesieged in turn by the Scots, Irish, English and French, the Carrickfergus castle played an important military role until 1928 and remains one of the best-preserved medieval structures in Ireland. Carrickfergus Castle a tale of ghosts, pirates, & NormansĬarrickfergus Castle is an 800-year-old Norman Castle that sits on the north shore of the great sheltered harbour Belfast Lough in Carrickfergus County Antrim Northern Ireland.
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