Carrickfergus History

Gifted to Carrickfergus by Lord Shaftesbury, Shaftesbury Park was previously called Deer Park. The land was owned by the Chichesters going back to the 1600s, and going back further may have been associated with the Franciscan Friary.

St. Nicholas Church grounds

Not Carrick, but the historic Bank Buildings in Belfast City Centre have now been essentially gutted right down to the ground floor, after a fire broke out on the roof at about 11am this morning.
Aside from the fact that the building had been recently refurbished by Primark, and a new extension to the store due to open, the building is an historic landmark building for Belfast and Northern Ireland in general, dating back to the late 1700s, and immediately recognisable in many early photographs of High Street and Castle Place.
The main thing is that the building was successfully evacuated.

Had a walk up through Windmill today. Can't say I've ever been up there before, despite living embarrassingly close (in the Irish Quarter) and was impressed with the historical information on the walls near the children's play park.
Took a stroll around windmill hill and enjoyed the short walk from the play park down to the back gate of the chapel - would love to see precisely where the old windmill itself was. Was it at the top of the the well-trodden hill in my photo?

Another great photo from Old Carrickfergus Postcards, posted on the Old Carrickfergus Postcards Group.
I believe this building was the Central Bar since the 1940s - not sure about any earlier use. Wetherspoon's website says that it became Chandler's Restaurant in late 1996 - it would have changed back into the Central Bar sometime in the early 2000s.
It looks like the building on the far right was demolished and an extension was added to match the style of the bar - probably ...in the 1980s. It is still The Central Bar and is now part of the wetherspoon franchise.
I've attached a modern image from Google Earth for comparison.
The Central Bar, Carrickfergus - JD Wetherspoon
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