6 Old Ruins to Explore in County Antrim
Checkout places to visit in County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 3,086 square kilometres. Not only is it home to the dynamic city of Belfast, it is the playground of giants that walk its nine glens and sit on the banks of the magnificent Lough Neagh. Here you’ll be offered spectacular cliff top walks and dramatic sea views, all just a stone’s throw from fine seafood restaurants.
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Old Ruins to Explore in County Antrim
A majestic castle in Antrim, on the banks of the Sixmilewater River. It was erected in stages between 1613 and 1662. It was destroyed by fire in 1922 and finally demolished in the 1970s. All that remain are a slightly raised grassed platform as well as a freestanding Italian stair tower which was built in 1887 and a gatehouse, which was built around 1818 with twin neo-Tudor towers, with older connecting walls. The gardens are a popular tourist attraction on the Randalstown Road, Antrim.
Antrim Round Tower was built around the 10th century and is one of the finest towers of its kind in Ireland. It is 28 metres tall and was built as part of a Monastic settlement. It is impressive reminders of Antrim’s ancient monastic settlement. The monastic site was burned in 1147.
This fine stable block and coach house with its imposing Jacobean revival style facade of coursed rubble basalt and Tardree granite dressings, was built c1843 by the 10th Viscount Massereene as part of his creation of Her Ladyship’s Pleasure Gardens which necessitated the removal of the original coachyard at the rear of the Castle. It is believed to have been designed by Charles Lanyon.
Situated in the graveyard of Castle Upton, this family mausoleum in the shape of a triumphal arch was designed and built by the renowned Scottish neoclassical architect Robert Adam. This particular tomb was built in 1789. It is typical of Adam’s style with its classical urns, leaf swags and circular reliefs surrounding the arched door to the vault. It remains one of the finest examples of neoclassical architecture in Ireland.
Pogue's Entry contains the childhood home of Alexander Irvine, who became a missionary in New York's Bowery and eventually pastor of the Church of the Ascension on Fifth Avenue. His book 'My Lady of The Chimney Corner' recalls his boyhood years in Pogue’s Entry and describes the lives of Irish country folk during the postfamine days.
Shane's Castle is the family seat of the O'Neills of Clanaboy. The Demesne is one of the most beautiful and well maintained in Ireland. The castle is on the north-east shores of Lough Neagh. Built in 1345 by a member of the Clandeboy O'Neill dynasty, it was originally called Eden-duff-carrick. Shane MacBrien O'Neill changed the name to Shane's Castle in 1722.