County: Antrim Site name: 75 Belfast Road, Carrickfergus
Sites and Monuments Record No.: ANT052:031 Licence number: AE/21/122
Author: Katy McMonagle
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 739956m, N 887093m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.712426, -5.827927
The site of a Premonstratensian Abbey (ANT 052:031) was located somewhere within the vicinity of the development site. It was dedicated to Holy Trinity and built in 1326 to replace the original priory which was founded near the church of St. Mary in Carrick.
Nothing now remains of the abbey, the site of which is now under lawns, a carpark & an access road. A small excavation of the area covered by the carpark revealed no archaeological features at all. Local people recalled skeletal remains being uncovered in 1949 when the factory was built and it was thought that the abbey might be underneath it, probably because the site had been severely levelled to build the large mid-20th-century industrial complex which had stood upon it.
Twenty-one test trenches were opened across part of the development site. Nothing of an archaeological nature was uncovered.
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