Carrickfergus Castle

Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish Carraig Ḟergus or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of Belfast Lough. Besieged in turn by the Scottish, rebel Irish, English, and French, the castle played an important military role until 1928 and remains one of the best preserved medieval structures in Northern Ireland. It was strategically useful, with three-quarters of the castle perimeter surrounded by water (although in modern times only a third of it is surrounded by water due to land reclamation). Today it is maintained by the Department for Communities as a historic monument in state care.