County Antrim Information

County Antrim is situated in the Northeast of Ireland, and could be called a basaltic tableland. It's most famous feature is the Giant's Causeway, which is one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and is also designated a world heritage site. The Giant's Causeway is made up of around 40,000 basaltic formations in the shape of hexagons. These hexagon formations are packed tightly together to form the Causeway. The formations were formed during the cooling of lava. The name, the Giants Causeway is derived from the old Irish name which attributed the Giants Causeway to the mythical legend and Giant, Finn MacCool who fell in love with a lady Giant in Scotland and then built the Causeway for her.

The Antrim coast is where Ireland's first inhabitants landed (nomadic boatmen from Scotland) around 7000 BC. The Normans conquered the country and began to build castles, many of which are still evident around the country today. Antrim is bordered by the Counties of Down, Tyrone and Derry.

Other Points of Interest:

- Bushmills Whiskey distillery was opened in 1610 and still produces the worlds oldest whiskey today.
- Antrim was one of the few Counties in Ireland to be directly effected by the Industrial revolution.
- The Name Antrim is derived from the Irish "Aontroim" meaning solitary farm.

Estimated Population & Land Area.

The estimated population of Antrim is 562,216 at the last census. The Land area of Antrim is 1093 sq miles.

Major Towns

- Bushmills
- Portush
- Ballycastle
- Ballymoney
- Ballymena
- Larne
- Ballyclare
- Antrim
- Carrickfergus
- Newtownabbey
- Belfast
- Lisburn

For more information about County Antrim, please do not hesitate to contact e Car Rental in Ireland by email or see our Tourism Information page about Towns, Cities and Counties of Ireland.