Archaeological excavations close to the walls' foundations have yielded many artefacts that have helped historians piece together a picture of the lives of the 12th and 13th century inhabitants. Segments of the town wall are still visible in various parts of the town and in various states of preservation. The historical walled town originally occupied an area of around 97,000 square metres, which now comprises the town centre, bordered by Albert Road to the west, the Marine Highway to the south, Shaftesbury Park to the north and Joymount Presbyterian Church grounds to the east. Carrickfergus and the surrounding area was, for a time, treated as a separate county, although it is today part of County Antrim. Belfast Lough itself was known as 'Carrickfergus Bay' well into the 17th century. The British peerage title of Baron Carrickfergus, which had become extinct in 1883, was bestowed upon Prince William on his wedding day on 29 April 2011.Īs an urban settlement, Carrickfergus far pre-dates the capital city Belfast and was for a lengthy period both larger and more prominent than the nearby city. 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." It is also a townland of 65 acres, a civil parish and a barony. Carrickfergus was the administrative centre for Carrickfergus Borough Council, before this was amalgamated into the Mid and East Antrim District Council in 2015, and forms part of the Belfast Metropolitan Area. It is County Antrim's oldest town and one of the oldest settlements in Ireland as a whole. The town had a population of 27,903 at the 2011 Census and takes its name from Fergus Mór mac Eirc, the 6th-century king of Dál Riata. It is located on the north shore of Belfast Lough, 11 miles (18 km) from Belfast. Please sign this petition and send a strong message to the PSNI asking them to reconsider the decision to close Carrickfergus Station.Carrickfergus shown within Northern IrelandĬarrickfergus (from Irish: Carraig Fhearghais, meaning "rock of Fergus"), known locally and colloquially as " Carrick", is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. In the interests of public confidence and safety this would be extremely concerning. The big fear is that this closure to the public will also ultimately lead to the complete closure of the station as a police response base. While some habits may be changing, there can be substitute for face to face interaction with the public. While this may be so, it is my strong opinion that a town the size of Carrickfergus (including Greenisland & Whitehead), with a population of over 40,000 people, needs a functioning police station. The PSNI argue that the public are using new methods of reporting crimes and interacting with officers. The justification for the closure has been both financial and practical. At that point I accused the PSNI of facilitating the station's demise by restricting access to the public. In 2014 the opening hours of Carrickfergus police station were reduced to 1pm to 4 pm daily. The decision has been taken on the back of sustained reductions in service in recent years. I have created this petition as a result of the Police Service of Northern Ireland decision to close Carrickfergus Police Station to the public from 3rd April 2017.
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