Ruairí
Ó Baoill
Works authored
Contributions to edited collections or authored works
Carrickfergus sits on the southern coast of Co. Antrim, looking out on Belfast Lough, and is overlooked by the southern limit of the Antrim Plateau. A number of major historic monuments survive in the town, including the medieval castle, St Nicholas’s church (of medieval and later date), and the seventeenth-century stone town walls. The castle and town guarded the coastal plain leading to the Glens of Antrim north of the town as well as the shipping entering Belfast Lough. Carrickfergus has been a town for more than 800 years and, as such, is perhaps the most historic town in Ulster, and its iconic medieval castle is one of the province’s most visited monuments. This ensemble of monuments represents important stages in the history and development of the town. It is not intended here to give a detailed history of Carrickfergus as this has been produced elsewhere and there have been many excavations carried out in the town in the past 65 years. Rather, this short paper focuses on some of the rich detail of past lives that archaeological excavation has revealed within the medieval town.
Carrickfergus sits on the southern coast of Co. Antrim, looking out on Belfast Lough, and is overlooked by the southern limit of the Antrim Plateau. A number of major historic monuments survive in the town, including the medieval castle, St Nicholas’s church (of medieval and later date), and the seventeenth-century stone town walls. The castle and town guarded the coastal plain leading to the Glens of Antrim north of the town as well as the shipping entering Belfast Lough. Carrickfergus has been a town for more than 800 years and, as such, is perhaps the most historic town in Ulster, and its iconic medieval castle is one of the province’s most visited monuments. This ensemble of monuments represents important stages in the history and development of the town. It is not intended here to give a detailed history of Carrickfergus as this has been produced elsewhere and there have been many excavations carried out in the town in the past 65 years. Rather, this short paper focuses on some of the rich detail of past lives that archaeological excavation has revealed within the medieval town.
