Sir Arthur Chichester, in 1604, received from James I. a grant of the fisheries and of the office of Admiral of Lough Neagh, which have been held by his successors and are now vested in the Marquess of Donegal. Lough Neagh gives the title of Baron to Viscount Masareene. North of this lake, and connected with it by a narrow channel about a mile long, over which is the handsome bridge of Toome, is Lough Beg, or "the small lake;" containing 8,144 3/4 acres, of which 1,624 are in this county, and 1520 3/4 in Derry.
In 1678, an act prohibiting the importation of linen from France was passed, which was soon afterwards disannulled by Jas. II., who afforded great encouragement to the French manufacturers. The first parliament of Wm, III. Declared the importation of French linens highly injurious to the interests of the three kingdoms; and the progress of the woollen trade in Ireland having alarmed the English manufacturers, the king was prevailed upon to suppress it, and re-establish in lieu the manufacture of linen, which was accordingly so much encouraged as to induce many of the Hugenots to emigrate hither from France, several of whom had carried on the trade extensively in their native country. Amongst these emigrants was Mr. Crommelin, who received from Government a grant of £800 per annum, as an equivalent for the interest of capital to be expended by him in establishing the linen manufacture at Lisburn, with a patent for its improvement, and an additional salary of £200, on condition that, with the assistance of three other persons, also remunerated from the public purse, he should instruct the Irish farmers in the cultivation of flax, which had been altogether neglected for upwards of half a century.
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Connor, the ancient seate of the diocese, is now merely a village: the largest villages are Ballykennedy, Templepatrick, Whitehouse, Dunmurry, Kells (each of which has a penny post), Doagh, Dunethery, Eden, Massareene, and Parkgate. Prior to the Union, this county sent ten members to the Irish parliament, - two knights of the shire, and two representatives for each of the boroughs of Antrim, Belfast, Lisburn, and Randalstown: from that period until 1832 it returned four members to the Imperial parliament, - two for the county, and one each for the boroughs of Belfast and Lisburn.
Archdall enumerates forty-eight religious establishments, as having existed in this county, but adds, that twenty of them are now unkuown, and scarcely can the existence of half the entire number be now established by positive evidence. There are still interesting remains of those of Bonamargy, Kells, Glenarm, Glynn near Larne, Muckamore, and White Abbey, to the west of the road from Belfast to Carrickfergus; and extensive ruins of other religious edifices, in the several townlands of Dundesert, Ballykennedy, and Carmavy, in the parish of Killead.
Of ancient fortresses, that of Carrickfergus, which has always been the strongest and most important, is the only one in complete preservation: there are interesting ruins of Green Castle, to the west of the road between Belfast and Carrickfergus; Oldertleet Castle, situated at the extremity of the peninsula which forms one side of the harbour of Lame; Castle Chichester, near the entrance to the peninsula of Island Magee; Red Bay Castle; and the Castle of Court Martin, near Cushendall. Near the northern coast are likewise several old castles, some of which are very difficult of access, and must have been fortresses of great strength prior to the use of artillery: of these the principal are Dunluce, remarkable for its amazing extent and romantic situation, also Dunseverick, Kenbane, Doonaninny, and Castle Carey; in Rathlin Island are the remains of Bruce's Castle. Inland there are also many remains of fortified residences, of which Shane's Castle, the venerable seate of the O'Nials, was destroyed by fire in 1816: Castle Upton is the only mansion of this kind at present habitable. Lisanoure, the beautiful Seate of George Macartney, Esq., on the banks of Lough Guile, is so called from an old fort in the vicinity. Near the summit of White Mountain, two miles north of Lisburn, are the extensive remains of Castle Robin, and at Portmore, near the Little Lough in Ballinderty, are similar remains, Among the mansions of the nobility and gentry, few are splendid.
In military arrangements this county is included in the north-eastern district: there are barracks for artillery and infantry at Belfast; and Carrickfergus Castle, in which the ordnance stores are deposited, is appropriated as a barrack for detachments from Belfast. The most striking features of the surface of this county are its mountains, which stretch in a regular outline from the southern to the northern extremity, terminating on the shore in abrupt and almost perpendicular declivities: they attain their greatest elevation near the coast, and have a gradual descent inland; so that many of the principal streams have their source near the sea, and run directly thence towards Lough Neagh: exclusively of the valleys embosomed amid them, these mountains are computed to occupy about one third of the superficial area of the county. Between this range and the shore, in some places, are tracts of very fertile land, especially from Belfast to Carrickfergus, and thence to Larne, near which the mountains project in rugged grandeur so as nearly to overhang the sea.
There are numerous mineral springs: one near Ballycastle is chalybeate, another aluminous and vitriolic, and a third, on Knocklaid mountain, chalybeate; at Kilroot there is a nitrous water of a purgative quality; and near Carrickfergus are two salt springs, one at Bella hill, and the other in Island Magee. There are also various natural caverns, of which the most remarkable are those of the picturesque mountain called Cave Hill; a curious and extensive cavity at Black-cave-head, to the north of Larne; a cave of larger dimensions under Red Bay Castle; one under Dunluce Castle; the cave at Port Coon, near the Giant's Causeway; and those of Cushendun and the white rocks, near Dunluce; besides which there are numerous artificial caves