myireland.ie
Giant's Causeway, County Antrim
Photograph: code poet on flickr. · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Province of Ulster

County Antrim

Aontroim

“AYN-trim” · lone ridge, from aon (one) + droim (ridge)

Known as The Glens County. For the nine glens that cut down to the sea along the north-east coast. It is one of the few nicknames that is simply a description of the ground.

Did you know? When the Spanish Armada galleass La Girona sank off the Antrim coast in 1588, it went down with some 1,300 aboard and only nine survived — much of it now glitters in the Ulster Museum.
A fact like this for every county and every age →

Compare with another county → · Printable one-page summary →

Antrim by the numbers
Ulster province 651,321 people · 2021 census 3,086 km² · 9th of 32 by size County town Antrim -9% in the Famine · 285,567 people in 1841, 259,903 in 1851 15 baronies · 1,731 townlands 1 Olympic medallist born here 29 surnames 12 towns on the site 40,936 Irish speakers · 2021 Highest point Trostan, 550 m 0 senior All-Irelands 30 notable people born here UNESCO: the Giant's Causeway and Gracehill Everything on the site about Antrim ↓
Carlow Cavan Cork Donegal Dublin Clare Galway Kerry Kildare Kilkenny Laois Leitrim Limerick Longford Louth Mayo Meath Monaghan Offaly Roscommon Sligo Tipperary Waterford Westmeath Wexford Wicklow Antrim Armagh Down Fermanagh Londonderry Tyrone

Open the atlas ↗

The history of Antrim

People have lived in Antrim for about nine thousand years: at Mount Sandel, on the east bank of the Bann at Coleraine, hunter-gatherers were settled around 7000 BC, one of the earliest known sites in Ireland. In the early Middle Ages the south of the county belonged to the Ulaid kingdom of Ulidia and the north to Dál Riada, a kingdom that reached across the sea into what is now western Scotland; the Dál nAraide and the Cruthin held land here too. Vikings raided the coast between the 8th and 11th centuries.

Anglo-Normans took Antrim into the Earldom of Ulster in the late 12th century, but after Edward Bruce's campaign of 1315 Carrickfergus was the only English stronghold of any size left. By the late Middle Ages the county was three lordships: Clandeboye, held by a branch of the O'Neills; the Glens, where the MacDonnells, gallowglasses from Scotland, became the strongest family in the 15th century; and the Route, held by the Cambro-Norman MacQuillans. Nobody knows exactly when the county itself was formed, but a district of that name existed before the early 14th century.

Scots settled in numbers in the 16th century. In 1588 the Armada ship La Girona went down off the Giant's Causeway with the loss of nearly 1,300 lives. In 1641 Islandmagee saw a reprisal killing of Catholics by Covenanter soldiers from Carrickfergus, and in 1689 Antrim was a centre of Protestant resistance to James II until Schomberg's army landed in Belfast Lough and took Carrickfergus. Slemish, near Ballymena, is where tradition places Patrick's years as a slave; linen was long an important industry, and after cotton-spinning came to Belfast in 1777 an estimated 27,000 people worked in it within ten miles of the town by 1800.

Drawn from the History section of the Wikipedia article on County Antrim ↗, rewritten here and adding nothing it does not say; licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. The chronology above is this site's own; where the two differ, the article is the one to check.

Clans & surnames of Antrim
Adams Mac Ádhaimh Ulster Scots / Gaelic · “son of Adam” Agnew Ó Gnímh Gaelic sept · “descendant of Gníomh, 'action'” Beattie Biadhtach (source) Ulster Scots / Gaelic · “from Bartholomew — or Irish biadhtach, 'public hospitaller'” Bell — Ulster Scots · “at the bell, or 'the handsome' (bel)” Campbell Mac Cathmhaoil (adopted) Scottish (gallowglass & planter) · “cam beul, 'crooked mouth'” Craig — Ulster Scots · “Scots for 'crag, rock'” Diamond Ó Diamáin Gaelic learned family · “descendant of Diamán, more correctly Díomán, a diminutive of the personal name Díoma” Ferguson Mac Fearghusa Ulster Scots / Gaelic · “son of Fearghus, 'man-strength'” Flynn Ó Floinn Gaelic sept · “descendant of Flann, 'ruddy'” Garrahy Mag Fhearadhaigh Gaelic sept · “son of Fearadhach, 'manly'” Gilligan Mac Giollagáin Gaelic sept · “son of Giollagán — 'youth, lad'” Graham — Ulster Scots (Border) · “from Grantham, Lincolnshire — 'gravelly homestead'” Jenkins — (Welsh / Cornish name) Welsh & Cornish settlers · “'little John' — Jenkin, a pet-form of John with the '-kin' ending” Johnston Mac Seáin (sometimes) Ulster Scots (Border) · “John's town” Laverty Ó Laithbheartaigh Gaelic sept · “descendant of Flaithbheartach” Magee Mag Aoidh Gaelic sept · “son of Aodh, 'fire'” McAllister Mac Alastair Scottish Gaelic (a MacDonald branch) · “son of Alastar, a Gaelic form of Alexander” McConnell Mac Conaill Gaelic sept & Scottish · “son of Conall — 'hound' and 'valour'; in Ulster also from Mac Dhòmhnaill” McDonnell Mac Dónaill Scots-Gaelic · “son of Dónall” McKeown Mac Eoin Norman-Gaelic · “son of Eoin or Eoghan — John, or the older Irish Eoghan” Mitchell Mistéil Norse-Scots · “from Michael” Morrison Mac Muiris / Ó Muirgheasáin Ulster Scots / Gaelic · “son of Maurice / descendant of Muirgheasán” Mulholland Ó Maolchalann Gaelic sept · “descendant of Maolchalann, 'chief of the calends'” O'Hara Ó hEaghra Gaelic sept · “descendant of Eaghra of Luighne” O'Neill Ó Néill Gaelic dynasty · “descendant of Niall (Glúndub)” Stewart Stíobhard Ulster Scots · “steward of the royal household” Taggart Mac an tSagairt Gaelic sept · “son of the priest” Thompson Mac Thómais Ulster Scots · “son of Thomas” Wilson — Ulster Scots / English · “son of Will”

Tap a name for its full page — story, homeland map and neighbours. Or see all surnames from County Antrim, with the other counties each name is tied to.

Towns, saints and legends of Antrim

Towns. Belfast Béal Feirste (291,386, 2021), Lisburn Lios na gCearrbhach (51,447, 2021), Ballymena An Baile Meánach (31,308, 2021), Carrickfergus Carraig Fhearghais (27,886, 2021), Antrim Aontroim (25,464, 2021), Larne Latharna (18,794, 2021), Ballymoney Baile Monaidh (10,903, 2021), Ballyclare Bealach Cláir (10,848, 2021), Portrush Port Rois (6,050, 2021), Ballycastle Baile an Chaistil (5,628, 2021), Crumlin Cromghlinn (5,340, 2021), Randalstown Baile Raghnaill (5,156, 2021). What every town name means →

Legends set here. Sruth na Maoile — the Sea of Moyle · The Giant's Causeway · Lough Neagh — the flung sod. On the atlas →

First names that belong here. Fionnuala, Fionn, Fearghas, Somhairle.

Irish in Antrim today

At the 2021 census, 40,936 people in Antrim aged 3 and over said they could speak Irish, and 23,732 could speak, read, write and understand it. 16,585 speak it daily, and for 3,011 it is their main language.

NISRA, Census 2021, Flexible Table Builder (county geography, built by NISRA from Data Zones; Belfast is split between Antrim and Down). All six counties →

The top of Antrim

Trostan (Trostán), 550 metres, in the Antrim Hills.

Wrecks on its coast: HMS Thrush (1917), HMS Drake (1917), RMS Andania (1918). Shipwrecks of Ireland →

Rivers and loughs: River Bann, River Lagan, Lough Neagh.

MountainViews, via Wikipedia. Every county's highest point → · Rivers and loughs →

Antrim in the All-Ireland

Hurling: no senior title; 2 finals lost.
Football: no senior title; 2 finals lost.

Every county's All-Ireland titles →

Born in Antrim

From Wikidata: people whose recorded birthplace is in the county, who have a Wikipedia article and are no longer living, with dates shown only where the article confirms them, ordered by how many languages Wikipedia covers them in. Traditional birthplaces of early saints are as Wikidata records them. Dates are left off where the sources disagree.

Hidden Antrim — the places the buses miss
  • Dunluce Castle
    MacDonnell stronghold on a sea-stack; in 1639 the kitchen fell into the sea, cooks and all. The lost town beside it was only found in 2011.
On the ground in Antrim

Every pin is placed by its documented coordinates. All the monuments of Ireland →

Everything on the site about County Antrim

The county

History

Monuments and heritage

Coast and country

People and culture

Quick answers
What is the Irish name for County Antrim?

Aontroim. Antrim is one of the 9 counties of Ulster (Cúige Uladh).

Who ruled County Antrim in the Middle Ages?

Around 1014 it was held by Ulaid; by 1450, Clandeboye O'Neills & MacDonnells. The full era-by-era chronology is on this page.

What surnames come from County Antrim?

Names historically associated with Antrim include Adams, Agnew, Beattie, Bell, Campbell, Craig, Diamond, Ferguson, among others.

What does Aontroim mean?

Aontroim, said “AYN-trim”, means lone ridge — from aon (one) + droim (ridge). Named for the town of Antrim on Lough Neagh.

What is the population of County Antrim?

651,321 at the 2021 census, against 285,567 in 1841, before the Famine.

What is the county town of Antrim?

Antrim. County Antrim covers about 3,086 km², which makes it the 9th largest of the 32 counties.

Who are famous people from County Antrim?

Among the best-known people born in Antrim are Bobby Sands, Stephen Boyd, Joseph Larmor, Keith O'Brien, John Ballance, Ken McArthur. The full list, with their birthplaces, is on this page.

What did the Famine do to County Antrim?

The census counted 285,567 people in Antrim in 1841 and 259,903 in 1851: a change of -9% in ten years, through death and emigration.

Sources for this page

A clean copy for school projects or the family file; collapsed sections print in full.

The chronology of who held the county is this site's own reading of the standard histories onto today's county borders, and says so where the fit is rough. Quoted passages are marked and licensed. Spotted an error? Say so — corrections are credited.

Trace your ancestors in Antrim

Free, from the holding institutions. How to begin: the six-step guide → · Spotted an error on this page? Suggest a correction.