the
North Gate remains. The parish church of St Nicholas, an antiquated
cruciform structure with curious Elizabethan work in the north transept,
and monuments of the Chichester family, was originally a chapel or
oratory dependent on a Franciscan monastery. The entrance to a
subterranean passage between the two establishments is still visible
under the communion-table of the church. The gaol, built on the site of
the monastery above mentioned, was formerly the county of Antrim prison.
The court-house, which adjoins the gaol, is a modern building. The town
has some trade in domestic produce, and in leather and linen
manufactures, there being several flax spinning-mills and bleach-works
in the immediate neighbourhood. Distilling is carried on. The harbour
admits vessels of 500 tons. The fisheries are valuable, especially the
oyster fisheries. At Duncrue about 2 m. from the town, rock salt of
remarkable purity and in large quantity is found in the Triassic
sandstone. The neighbouring country is generally hilly, and Slieve True
(1100 ft.) commands a magnificent prospect.

In 1182, John de Courci, to whom Henry II. had granted all the parts of
Ulster he could obtain possession of by the sword, fixed a colony in
this district. The castle came in the 13th century into possession of
the De Lacy family, who, being ejected, invited Edward Bruce to besiege
it (1315). After a desperate resistance the garrison surrendered. In
1386, the town was burned by the Scots, and in 1400 was destroyed by the
combined Scots and Irish. Subsequently, it suffered much by famine and
the occasional assaults of the neighbouring Irish chieftains, whose
favour the townsmen were at length forced to secure by the payment of an
annual tribute. In the reign of Charles I. many Scottish Covenanters
settled in the neighbourhood to avoid the persecution directed against
them. In the civil wars, from 1641, Carrickfergus was one of the chief
places of refuge for the Protestants of the county of Antrim; and on the
10th of June 1642, the first Presbytery held in Ireland met here. In
that year the garrison was commanded by General Robert Munro, who,
having afterwards relinquished the cause of the English parliament, was
surprised and taken prisoner by Sir Robert Adair in 1648. At a later
period Carrickfergus was held by the partisans of James II., but
surrendered in 1689 to the forces under King William's general
Schomberg; and in 1690 it was visited by King Willia