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abbey; the ceilings of both chapels are richly and deli-
cately groined. The woollen manufacture was formerly
carried on here very extensively, affording employment
to a great number of the population; but within the last
30 years it has gradually been falling to decay. Fairs
are held on Jan. 26th, Feb. 26th, March 25th, April
28th, June 15th, July 15th, Sept. 27th, Nov. 7th, and
Dec. 5th. A constabulary police force is stationed
here.
CARRICKBOY, a hamlet, in the parish of KILGLASS,
barony of ABBEYSHRUEL, county of LONGFORD, and
province of LEINSTER, 5 miles (S.) from Edgeworths-
town: the population is returned with the parish. This
place is situated on the road from Edgeworthstown
to Ballymahon; it contains Richmont, the seat of J.
Huggins, Esq., M. D., and is a constabulary police
station.
CARRICKFERGUS, a
sea-port, borough, market-
and post-town, and parish,
and a county of itself, locally
in the county of ANTRIM, of
which it was the ancient
capital and is still the county
town, 88 miles (N.) from
Dublin; containing 8706 in-
habitants. This place, which
is of great antiquity, is by
some writers identified with
the ancient Dun-Sobarky or
Dun-Sobairchia, according to Dr. Charles O’Conor
from a prince named Sobairchius, who made it his resi-
dence; but the correctness of this supposition is doubted
by others. It is thought to have derived its present
name, signifying. ‘ The Rock of Fergus’ early in the
4th century, from Fergus Mac Erch, a chieftain of
Dalaradia, who established the first Irish settlement on
the opposite coast of Caledonia. An ancient triad quoted
by Dr. O’Conor records that St. Patrick blessed a tower
or strong hold of the Dalaradians, in which was a well
of miraculous efficacy, called Tipra Phadruic, ‘The well
of St. Patrick.’ It is uncertain at what period the castle
was originally erected; the present structure, from the
style of its architecture, was evidently built soon after
the arrival of the English. John, Earl of Morton and
Lord of Ireland, was here in the lifetime of his father,
Hen. II. (from whom John De Courcy received the
grant of all the lands he might conquer in Ulster); and
his despatch to the king, dated at Carrickfergus, in
which he mentions his having taken the castle, is still
extant among the MSS. in the library of Trinity College,
Dublin, and is written in Latin. This castle, with sub-
sequent additions, is still remaining, and is justly con-
sidered one of the noblest fortresses of that time now
existing in Ireland. De Courcy having fallen into disgrace
with the succeeding English monarchs, his castles and
possessions in this county fell into the hands of the De
Lacy family, who, becoming tyrannical and oppressive,
incurred the anger of King John. During the conten-
tions which arose among the English settlers, after they
had established themselves in the country, this place
suffered so much that Hugh de Lacy the younger, who,
on the restoration of his family to the royal favour, re-
paired the town and strengthened it by the introduction
of new settlers, has even been regarded as its founder.
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In 1234 Carrickfergus is mentioned as one of the haven
towns of Ulster 5 but from that period till shortly after
the commencement of the 14th century, little of its history
is known. The De Lacys, again becoming obnoxious to
the English monarch, and the Lord-Justice Mortimer
being sent against them with a considerable force, they
made their escape into Scotland, and invited Edward
Bruce, the brother of the Scottish monarch, to invade
the country, and become their king. Accordingly, in
1315, Bruce embarked 6000 men at Ayr, and, accompa-
nied by the De Lacys and several of the Scottish no-
bility, landed at Wolderfirth,now Olderfleet, where, being
joined by numbers of the Irish chieftains, he routed
Richard de Burgo, now Earl of Ulster, who had been sent
against him; and having slain several of the English
nobles and taken many of them prisoners, advanced to
lay siege to the castle of this place. During the siege,
Thomas, Lord Mandeville, who commanded the garrison,
made a sally on the assailants, whom he repulsed at the
first onset; but, being recognised by the richness of his
armour, he was felled to the ground by the blow of a bat-
tle-axe and instantly killed. The garrison, disheartened
by the loss of their commander, agreed to surrender the
castle within a limited time, and on the appointed day,
30 of the Scottish forces advancing to take possession,
were seized as prisoners, the garrison declaring that they
would defend the place to the last; but for want of
provisions they were soon obliged to surrender. Bruce,
having secured Carrickfergus, advanced to Dublin, and
arrived at Castleknock, within four miles of the city;
but finding the citizens prepared for his reception, he
entered the county of Kildare, and advanced towards
Limerick, laying waste the country with fire and sword;
on his retreating towards the north, he was attacked
near Dundalk by Sir John Bermingham, who defeated
the Scottish forces and killed their leader. King Robert
Bruce arrived soon after with a strong reinforcement,
but on learning the fate of his brother, returned to his
own dominions, and thus terminated an enterprise which
had thrown the country into a state of unprecedented
desolation.
After the evacuation of the country by the Scots,
Carrickfergus again reverted to its former possessors 5
but the desultory warfare carried on at intervals for
successive ages in the north of Ireland, during which
its strength and situation rendered it the centre of
operations, subjected it to many severe calamities. In
1333, William, Earl of Ulster, was assassinated here
by his own servants; and his countess, with her infant
daughter, fleeing into England, the O’Nials, the original
lords of the soil, immediately succeeded in expelling the
English settlers, and for a time retained possession
of the place. In 1386 the town was burned by the
Scots; and in 1400 it was again destroyed by the com-
bined forces of the Scots and Irish. In 1481 a commis-
sion was granted to the mayor and others, to enter into
a league with the Earl of Ross, Lord of the Isles, who
had usurped the sovereignty of the Hebrides from the
Scottish crown. In 1497 the town and neighbourhood
were visited by famine; and in 1504 it was resolved
that none but an Englishman should be entrusted with
the custody of its castle, or with that of Green Castle,
in the county of Down. The town continued for many
years to be a strong hold of the English, and even when
the English Government was so reduced as to be scarcely