* February 21 – 26 – Seven Years ' War – At the Battle of Carrickfergus in the north of Ireland, a force of French troops under the command of privateer François Thurot captures and holds the town and castle of Carrickfergus before retiring ; the force is defeated ( and Thurot killed ) in a naval action in the Irish Sea on February 28.

Carrickfergus (), known locally and colloquially as " Carrick ", is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Carrickfergus is the administrative centre for Carrickfergus Borough Council and forms part of the Belfast Metropolitan Area.

The town is the subject of the classic Irish folk song " Carrickfergus ", a 19th century translation of an Irish-language song ( Do Bhí Bean Uasal ) from Munster, which begins with the words, " I wish I was in Carrickfergus.

Carrickfergus and the surrounding area was, for a time, treated as a separate county, although it is today part of County Antrim.

The castle, which is the most prominent landmark of Carrickfergus, is widely known as one of the best-preserved Norman castles in Ireland.

It now is a centre for leisure sailing, and is home to Carrickfergus Marina and Carrickfergus Sailing Club.

Carrickfergus is classified by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency ( NISRA ) as a large town ( i. e. population between 18, 000 and 75, 000 people ) and within the Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area ( BMUA ).

The town is home to the longest-running short-term radio station in Northern Ireland, Carrickfergus FM.

It is within the Carrickfergus Borough Council area.

There is also a network of rock salt ( halite ) mines in Kilroot which stretch for approximately underneath Kilroot, Eden and the Carrickfergus East Division.

The British town gas industry died in 1987 when operations ceased at the last town gas manufacturing plants in Northern Ireland ( Belfast, Portadown and Carrickfergus ; Carrickfergus gas works is now a restored gas works museum ).

He is said to have hidden in caves at the Hatchet Field on the Black Mountain West of Belfast, before he was captured and hanged at ' The Three Sisters ', the gallows green, near Carrickfergus Castle in 1720.

He is presently a member of Carrickfergus Borough Council, although he has recently announced that he is to stand down at the next Local Government election to give an opportunity to " capable younger members who are seeking selection " from the Carrickfergus Division of the UUP.

* County of the Town of Carrickfergus ( by 1325 )

Of the Ulster ports on the list, Carrickfergus was first, followed by Bangor, Donaghadee, and Strangford.

Despite being largely unaffected by the troubles there were occasional events in Carrickfergus.

* Patrick Joseph Kelly IRA volunteer and commander of the East Tyrone Brigade killed by the SAS in Loughgall was born in Carrickfergus

The limited number of modern fortifications built in Ireland, such as those with the first gunports retrofitted to Carrickfergus Castle in the 1560s and at Corkbeg in Cork Harbour and built in the 1570s in fear of an invasion, were equally unexceptional by European standards.

The following month UDA Colonel Hugh McVeigh and his aide David Douglas were the next to die, kidnapped by the UVF on the Shankill Road and taken to Carrickfergus where they were beaten before being killed near Islandmagee.

Here he was met by Mac Duilechain of Clanbrassil and Mac Artain of Iveagh, both of whom had submitted to him at Carrickfergus.

However after being summoned to the south by Rinuccini, he failed to take advantage of the victory, and allowed Monro to remain unmolested at Carrickfergus.

Under the commands of John Norreys and Francis Drake an amphibious strike force proceeded by sea from Carrickfergus to Rathlin Island, where Sorley Boy's children and valuables, together with the families of his principal retainers, had been lodged for safety ; and while the chieftain was himself at Ballycastle, within sight of the island, the women and children ( perhaps 700 ) were massacred by the English.

On 24 June, unmolested by the French fleet, William landed in Carrickfergus with 15, 000 men for his Irish campaign, much to the consternation of James ' chief lieutenant in Ireland the Earl of Tyrconnel, who later wrote " The want of a squadron of French men-of-war in St George's Channel has been our ruin ... "

Of the Ulster ports on the list, Carrickfergus was first, followed by Bangor, Donaghadee, and Strangford.

Of the Ulster ports on the list, Carrickfergus was first, followed by Bangor, Donaghadee, and Strangford.

Of the Ulster ports on the list, Carrickfergus was first, followed by Bangor, Donaghadee, and Strangford.

The affair was the topic of much talk in Belfast and its surrounding villages, however Butters was discharged from the Spring Assizes in Carrickfergus by proclamation.

Areas known for their salt mines include Kilroot near Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland ( over 100 years old with more than 25 km of passages ); Khewra and Warcha in Pakistan ; Tuzla in Bosnia ; Wieliczka and Bochnia in Poland ( both established in the mid-13th century and still operating, mostly as museums ); Hallstatt and Salzkammergut in Austria ; Rheinberg in Germany ; Slănic, Cacica, Ocnele Mari, Salina Turda, Târgu Ocna, Ocna Sibiului, and Praid in Romania ; Provadiya in Bulgaria ; Racalmuto, Realmonte and Petralia Soprana within the production sites managed by Italkali in southern Italy ; Avery Island in Louisiana, United States ; Saltville, Virginia, which served as the site of one of the Confederacy's main saltworks ; the wich towns of Cheshire and Worcestershire in England ; and the Detroit Salt Company's subterranean complex beneath the city of Detroit.

Additionally, the Carrickfergus Harbour Junction Light Railway 2 km ( 1 mi ); was incorporated in 1882, opening in 1887 and was worked by the Northern Counties Committee.

The plan was to occupy government buildings and to repel any assaults by the Ulster Volunteers and to guard the armouries at Omagh, Enniskillen, Armagh, Dundalk and Carrickfergus to prevent thefts of weapons.

He was assassinated in Carrickfergus in 1333 by his Irish cousins.

The barony of Ennishowen and Carrickfergus died with him while he was succeeded in the marquessate by his younger brother, Lord Edward Chichester.

Carrickfergus was built by John de Courcy in 1177 as his headquarters, after he conquered eastern Ulster in 1177 and ruled as a petty king until 1204, when he was ousted by another Norman adventurer, Hugh de Lacy.

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 shadows.

Together with the neighbouring district of Carrickfergus and part of Newtownabbey, it forms the East Antrim constituency for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.

From 1885, East Antrim consisted of the baronies of Belfast Lower and Glenarm Upper, and parts of the baronies of Antrim Upper, Antrim Lower and Belfast Upper, and the town of Carrickfergus.

Together with the neighbouring district of Carrickfergus and part of Newtownabbey, it forms the East Antrim constituency for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.

Alliance MLA for East Antrim, Stewart Dickson, was happy to see work on the main Carrickfergus to Belfast road being funded and was quoted by the BBC to have said: " I have campaigned for decades to have the A2 road upgraded and this great news will help significantly cut journey times for the thousands of commuters who use this route every day.

Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738.

In addition to Clonmel and Dublin, his family also lived in, among other places, Wicklow Town, Annamoe ( County Wicklow ), Drogheda ( County Louth ), Castlepollard ( County Westmeath ), and Carrickfergus ( County Antrim ).

The main Translink Northern Ireland Railways routes are the major line between Belfast, Antrim, Ballymena, Coleraine and Londonderry, Belfast to Carrickfergus and Larne, the port for Stranraer in Scotland and Coleraine to Portrush.

In late June, Edward proceeded with his army from Carrickfergus along Magh Line ( Six Mile Water ), burning Rathmore, near Antrim town, which was a holding of the Savages.

Sussex laid waste Kintyre and some of the southern Hebridean isles, and landing at Carrickfergus he fired and plundered the settlements of the Scots on the Antrim coast before returning to Dublin for Christmas.

In time the soldiers making the journey from Carrickfergus to Antrim reached the river at this spot when they had traveled six miles so began to call the Ollar the Six Mile Water.

However, already the same year the Chichester title was revived in favour of his younger brother, Edward Chichester, who was made Baron Chichester, of Belfast in the County of Antrim, and Viscount Chichester, of Carrickfergus in the County of Antrim.

In 1841, three years before he succeeded his father in the marquessate, he was created Baron Ennishowen and Carrickfergus, of Ennishowen in the County of Donegal and of Carrickfergus in the County of Antrim, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

The Normans settled mostly in an area in the east of Ireland, later known as the Pale, and among other buildings they constructed were Swords Castle in Fingal ( North County Dublin ), Dublin Castle and Carrickfergus Castle in County Antrim.

The seat was reduced in size for the 1974 General Election, with the town of Carrickfergus and the areas between it and Larne town transferred to North Antrim.

A lifelong gambler, he died heavily in debt in 1844 at his home at Ormeau, County Antrim ( which formed the basis of the Ormeau Road ), and was buried in St Nicholas's Church, Carrickfergus.

He was instead raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom in his own right as Baron Ennishowen and Carrickfergus, of Ennishowen in the County of Donegal and of Carrickfergus in the County of Antrim.

He was Custos Rotulorum for County Antrim and Governor of Carrickfergus for twelve years before dying in Ireland in 1687.

Carrickfergus Castle is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of Belfast Lough.