Administrative Boundary of Mid and East Antrim

About Mid and East Antrim

Mid and East Antrim is a district council area in Northern Ireland. Covering approximately 1,234 square kilometres of coastline, the Antrim Plateau, and the valleys of the Braid and Glenarm rivers, Mid and East Antrim had a population of approximately 138,000 at the 2021 Census. The district was created in 2015 by the merger of the former Ballymena Borough Council, Carrickfergus Borough Council, and Larne Borough Council. The district encompasses Carrickfergus Castle — one of the best-preserved Norman castles in Ireland — the dramatic Antrim Coast Road, and Slemish Mountain, the site of St Patrick's youthful captivity. Carrickfergus Castle and Early History Carrickfergus, on the southern shore of Belfast Lough, is one of the oldest settled towns in Northern Ireland. Carrickfergus Castle — a massive Norman castle begun c.1177 by John de Courcy, with its great keep, inner and outer wards, and substantial curtain walls largely intact — is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Ireland and a landmark of the Antrim coast. William III (William of Orange) landed at Carrickfergus in June 1690, beginning his campaign in Ireland that culminated at the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July 1690. The parents of Andrew Jackson — the seventh President of the United States — emigrated from the Carrickfergus area to South Carolina in 1765; a replica of the Jackson homestead stands at the Ulster American Folk Park. Ballymena and Larne Ballymena — the principal town of the district — is a prosperous market town in the Braid Valley, known historically for its strong Presbyterian tradition. Liam Neeson, one of the most celebrated actors of his generation, was born in Ballymena on 7 June 1952. Larne is a port town with ferry connections to Cairnryan in Scotland; the Larne–Stranraer crossing is one of the most historically important sea routes between Ireland and Britain, used for commerce and travel for centuries. Slemish and the Antrim Plateau Slemish Mountain — a distinctive volcanic plug rising 438 metres above the Braid Valley near Broughshane — is associated with St Patrick: according to tradition, Patrick (then named Maewyn Succat) was enslaved and brought to Ireland as a young man, tending pigs on a mountain believed to be Slemish for approximately six years (c. 405–411 AD) before escaping and later returning as a missionary. The mountain is a site of pilgrimage on St Patrick's Day (17 March). The Antrim Coast Road between Larne and Ballycastle — built 1832–1842 by William Bald along the base of the Antrim Plateau cliffs — is one of the most spectacular coastal roads in Ireland, constructed through previously isolated communities. Glenariff Forest Park — the "Queen of the Glens" — contains the most extensive waterfall walks in the Nine Glens of Antrim. GIS and Boundary Data The administrative boundary of Mid and East Antrim District Council is available for free download in GeoJSON and KML formats, sourced from the OSNI Open Data portal (Crown copyright 2024). Compatible with QGIS, ArcGIS, Mapbox, and Google Earth, the dataset supports Norman heritage mapping, coastal route planning, pilgrimage site archaeology, port geography research, and demographic analysis across the local authority area.

📍 Administrative boundary of Mid and East Antrim county