Guide to County Antrim Ireland

County Antrim

County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, and one of nine counties that historically and geographically constitute the province of Ulster. It is the 9th largest of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland in terms of area, and 2nd in terms of population behind County Dublin. Antrim is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It is bounded north and east by the narrow seas separating Northern Ireland from Scotland, namely the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea. To the south, Belfast Lough and the River Lagan divide it from County Down, and in the south-west the large Lough Neagh divides Antrim from County Armagh and County Tyrone. Antrim shares its western border with County Londonderry, the boundary being formed by the River Bann.

Covering an area of 2,844 km², it has a population of over 600,000, with the majority living in and around the Belfast area. The city of Belfast is Northern Ireland´s biggest city and also its capital. The city centre and the larger part of the urban sprawl is in County Antrim, but some southern suburbs are technically within County Down.

Antrim is home to the world-famous Giant´s Causeway, a spectacular coastal landscape of volcanic basalt rock formations. This location has been designated as a World Heritage site since 1986 and it can be found two miles north of the large village of Bushmills, home of an arguably equally famous Irish whiskey distillery.

Belfast has two airports, George Best Belfast City Airport and Belfast international, the latter being found close to the shores of Lough Neagh in the east of County Antrim. The city centre´s motorway links have recently been upgraded to allow traffic to flow freely north and south.

Outside of Belfast the main towns are Ballymena, Lisburn and Larne. Other notable towns include Antrim, Ballycastle, Ballyclare, Ballymoney, Carrickfergus, Greenisland, Newtownabbey, Portrush and Randalstown.