County Antrim
General Information
Province: Ulster
Location: Maritime county set in the north-east corner of Ireland
County Size: 9th in Ireland
Land Area: 1,093 sq. miles
Main Rivers: Bann; Bush; Main; Glenshesk; Six Mile Water.
Main Lakes: L. Neagh, L. Beg.
Main Islands: Rathlin (100 people live on the L-Shaped Island. The reedy loughs(lakes) offer plenty of brown trout, and wild flowers sparkle in the fields)
Areas of Geographical Interest:
Giant's Causeway. (Situated on the northern coast of Ireland, it is a geological feature created about 55m years ago.)
Glens of Antrim.( The Glens of Antrim are completely unspoiled and of outstanding natural beauty. The landscape is dominated by a high plateau cut by deep glens which sweep eastward to the sea.)
Benvarden Garden. (a walled garden dating to the 1780's, with a Victorian woodland pond.)
The County
Population: 562,216
Capital City: Belfast
Main Towns: Antrim, Ballymena, Ballycastle, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Larne, Lisburn, Newtownabbey.
Main Business Contact: Ledu The Small Business Agency: Ledu House, Upper Galwally, Belfast. Tel: 01232-491-031
Places of historical Interest: Old Bushmills Distillery, Carrickfergus Castle, Antrim Castle Gardens, Irish Linen Centre and The Dunluce Centre (narrates the legends of the North Antrim coast)
No. of Golf Clubs: 23, 12 in Belfast
Blue Flag Beaches: Ballycastle
Attractions: Fantasy Island & Waterworld in Portrush, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge (linking the mainland to an Island.)
Belfast City
Population : 279,237
Located on the south east corner of Antrim, on the River Langan and surrounded by hills, a small portion of the city edges into Co. Down
Unless you approach Belfast from the sea you cannot help but come upon the city suddenly because of its fine setting: a 'Hibernian Rio' as one writer has called it, ringed by high hills, sea lough and river valley.
A village in the 17th century, this robust northern metropolis of nearly half a million people - a third of Northern Ireland's population - has much in common with Liverpool and Manchester, those breezy cities across the Irish Sea. Belfast was the engine-room that
drove the whirring wheels of the industrial revolution in Ulster. The development of industries like linen, rope-making and shipbuilding doubled the size of the town every ten years. The world's largest dry dock is here and the shipyard's giant cranes tower over the port.
Today the city and the river front are again being transformed. Much of the city centre is now pleasantly pedestrianized, with benches where you can sit and listen to the street musicians.
There are many exuberant Victorian and Edwardian buildings with elaborate sculptures over doors and windows. Stone-carved heads of gods and poets, scientists, kings and queens peer down from the high ledges of banks and old linen warehouses.
Transport
Main Routes: Belfast is served by major routes A1-N1(to Dublin); M2-A6 (to Derry)
Miles from: Derry (73); Dublin (104); Galway (190); Cork (264).
Nearest Travel Centre (Bus): Ulsterbus, Europa Bus Centre & Laganside Bus Centre 01232-320 011
Nearest Rail Station: Central Station, Belfast 01232-899 400
Nearest Airport: Belfast City Airport 01232-734 828; Belfast International Airport 01849-484 848
Nearest Ferry Port: Belfast; Larne (+21 miles)
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