Antrim, County Antrim

Antrim is a town and civil parish in County Antrim in the northeast of Northern Ireland, on the banks of the Six Mile Water, half a mile northeast of Lough Neagh. It had a population of 20,001 people in the 2001 Census. It is the county town of County Antrim and was the administrative centre of Antrim Borough Council. It is 22 miles (35 km) northwest of Belfast by rail.HistoryAt the beginning of recorded history, the Antrim area was populated by Irish Gaels and was within the territory of Dál nAraidi. According to tradition, a monastery was founded near the present site of the round tower in 495, thirty years after the death of Saint Patrick, to take forward his ministry, and a small settlement grew up around it.By 1596, an English settlement had grown up around a ford across the Sixmilewater River and All Saints Parish Church has a datestone of 1596 with the words 'Gall-Antrum' written on it meaning 'The Antrum of the English'. Hugh Clotworthy, father of the Anglo-Irish politician John Clotworthy, 1st Viscount Massereene, supervised the building of secure military quarters beside the old Norman motte. This later became the site of Antrim Castle. Hugh was knighted in 1617 and appointed High Sheriff of County Antrim.