Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna

Placenames Database of Ireland The Placenames Database of Ireland (), also known as , is a database and archive of place names in Ireland. It was created by Fiontar, Dublin City University in collaboration with the Placenames Branch of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, ...

. is a town on the east coast of

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, with a population of 18,853 at the 2021 census. It is a major passenger and freight

roll-on roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usi ...

port. Larne is administered by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. Together with parts of the neighbouring districts of

Antrim and Newtownabbey Antrim and Newtownabbey is a local government district in Northern Ireland. The district was created on 1 April 2015 by merging the Borough of Antrim with the Borough of Newtownabbey. The local authority is Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Co ...

and Causeway Coast and Glens, it forms the East Antrim constituency for elections to the Westminster Parliament and

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

. The civil parish is in the historic

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

of Glenarm Upper.

History

The coastal area around Larne has been inhabited for millennia, and is thought to have been one of the earliest inhabited areas of Ireland, with these early human populations believed to have arrived from Scotland via the North Channel. Knockdhu, north of Larne, was the site of a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

promontory fort A promontory fort is a fortification, defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus using the topography to reduce the Rampart (fortification), ramparts needed. The oldest kno ...

and settlement. The early coastal dwellers are thought to have had a sophisticated culture which involved trading between the shores of the North Channel and between other settlements on the coasts of Scotland. The coast of Scotland is in fact clearly visible from here. Archaeological digs in the area have found

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

work and other artefacts which have been assigned dates from 6000 BC onwards. The term ''Larnian'' has even been coined by archaeologists to describe such flintworks and similar artefacts of the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

era (and one time to describe Mesolithic culture in Ireland as a whole). Larnian is also currently used to refer to people from Larne. Larne takes its name from ''Latharna'', a Gaelic territory or ''

túath ''Túath'' (plural ''túatha'') is the Old Irish term for the basic political and jurisdictional unit of Gaelic Ireland. ''Túath'' can refer to both a geographical territory as well the people who lived in that territory. The smallest ''túath ...

'' that was part of the

Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or (Irish language, Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic Provinces of Ireland, over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include , which ...

petty kingdom A petty kingdom is a kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the numerous kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England unified into t ...

of ''

Dál nAraidi Dál nAraidi (; "Araide's part") or Dál Araide, sometimes List of Latinised names, latinised as Dalaradia or Anglicisation, anglicised as Dalaray,Boyd, Hugh AlexanderIrish Dalriada ''The Glynns: Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Societ ...

''. The name spelt as ''Latharne'' was used at one point in reference to the Anglo-Norman cantred of

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 28,141 at the 2021 census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...

. ''Latharna'' itself means "descendants of Lathar", with Lathar according to legend being a son of the pre-Christian king Úgaine Mór. The town sprang up where the River Inver flows into Larne Lough. This area was known in Irish as ''Inbhear an Latharna'' ("rivermouth/estuary of Latharna") and was later anglicised as ''Inver Larne'' or simply ''Inver''. ''Latharna'' was only applied exclusively to the town in recent centuries. The Roman emperor Severus is known to have described how, in 204 AD, a Roman galley bound for Scotland veered off course to a place called Portus Saxa, which was believed to be Larne Lough. There was

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

activity in the area during the 10th and 11th centuries AD. Viking burial sites and artefacts have been found in the area and dated to that time. ''Ulfreksfjord'' was an

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

name for Larne Lough. According to the Norse historian

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

, Connor, King of Ireland, defeated

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

Vikings at ''Ulfreksfjord'' in 1018. Later anglicised names include ''Wulfrichford'', ''Wolderfirth'', ''Wolverflete'' and the surviving name ''Olderfleet''. The ending ''-fleet'' comes from the Norse ''fljot'', meaning "

inlet An inlet is a typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In ...

". Geoffrey Malcolm Gathorne-Hardy
''The Norse Discoverers of America''
Clarendon Press, 1921. ''Older-'' may come from the Norse ''oldu'', meaning "wave". The town

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

is ''Falce Marique Potens'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "Powerful with the

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting or reaping grain crops, or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feedi ...

and on the sea"). In the 13th century the Scots Bissett family built Olderfleet Castle at Curran Point. In 1315, Edward the Bruce of Scotland (brother of

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...

, King of Scotland) landed at Larne with his 6000 strong army en route to conquer Ireland, where Olderfleet Castle was of strategic importance. Edward saw Ireland as another front in the ongoing war against Norman England. In 1569, Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, Queen of England and Ireland, appointed Sir Moyses Hill as the governor of Olderfleet Castle. It was seen as strategically important for any Tudor conquest of Ulster. Following the 17th century

Union of the Crowns The Union of the Crowns (; ) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas diplomacy) of the two separate realms under a single ...

of Scotland, England and Ireland under James VI & I many more settlers would have arrived to Ulster via Larne during the

Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ) was the organised Settler colonialism, colonisation (''Plantation (settlement or colony), plantation'') of Ulstera Provinces of Ireland, province of Irelandby people from Great ...

. The area around County Antrim itself, however, was not part of the official 17th century Plantation; instead many Scottish settlers arrived in the area through private settlement in the 17th century. During the 18th century many Scots-Irish emigrated to America from the port of Larne. A monument in the Curran Park commemorates the ''Friends Goodwill'', the first emigrant ship to sail from Larne in May 1717, heading for Boston, Massachusetts in the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

region of the modern United States of America. Boston's long standing Scots-Irish roots can be traced to Larne. The town is documented as being the first in county Antrim to be taken by United Irishmen during the ill-fated rebellion of 1798. The Protestant rebels from this area (almost entirely Presbyterian) filled Larne and engaged the government forces around 2am on the morning of 7 June. This surprise attack drove the garrison to flee the town, at which point the rebel force marched off to join up with McCracken and fight in the Battle of Antrim. In 1914, Loyalists opposed to the Home Rule Act 1914 prepared for armed resistance. In an episode known as the

Larne Gun Running The Larne gun-running was a major gun smuggling operation organised in April 1914 in Ireland by Major Frederick H. Crawford and Captain Wilfrid Spender for the Ulster Unionist Council to equip the Ulster Volunteers, Ulster Volunteer Force. The op ...

German, Austrian and Italian weapons with ammunition were transported into the ports of Larne and Bangor in the dead of night and distributed throughout Ulster. This event marked a major step in cementing the right to Ulster Unionist

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

, with the recognition of such a right ultimately leading to the creation of

The Troubles

Larne throughout the course of

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

had a significant paramilitary presence in the town, mostly through the presence of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...

(UDA). For further information see UDA South East Antrim Brigade. The town suffered a number of

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

(IRA) bomb attacks during The Troubles, notably including a large car bomb at the King's Arms hotel in 1980 that caused damage to the main shopping areas, for which the IRA claimed responsibility. This incident was raised in Parliament at the time. Incidents which involved fatalities *16 September 1972: Sinclair Johnston a UVF member, was shot by the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

during street disturbances in the town when the Royal Ulster Constabulary were protecting Catholics living in St Johns Place. *20 November 1974: Kevin Regan died from his injuries received in a UVF attack five days before on Maguires bar on Lower Cross Street. The Larne UDA blamed the IRA for the attack. *6 February 1975: Colette Brown, a Catholic, was found by the side of the Killyglen Road after being shot by Loyalists. Two men, one a UVF member the other a Lance Corporal in the UDR (Ulster Defence Regiment) were later convicted of her murder. *8 September 1975: Michael O'Toole a Catholic, died from his injuries sustained in a loyalist booby trap bomb attached to his car two days previously. *24 August 1980: Rodney McCormick a Catholic, was shot dead by the

(UDA) in the Antiville area of the town. The gunmen involved were convicted. *11 July 2000: Andrew Cairns a UVF member, was killed by members of the UDA at an eleventh night bonfire celebration in a suspected loyalist feud at Boyne Square. He may also have been murdered due to his alleged involvement in an earlier assault. The Royal Ulster Constabulary detective inspector, George Montgomery, did not find any motive for the murder. David Ervine (PUP) stated that there was no Loyalist feud.

Geography

Larne sits on the western side of a narrow inlet that links Larne Lough to the sea. On the eastern side of the inlet is a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

called

Islandmagee Islandmagee () is a peninsula and civil parish on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Larne and Whitehead. It is part of the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area and is a sparsely populated rur ...

. To the west of Larne is the ancient volcanic formation of Antrim Plateau, with its glaciated valleys scenically sweeping down to the sea to the north of Larne in what are known as the Glens of Antrim. Larne is 25 miles from the Scottish mainland, with views across the North Channel towards the Mull of Kintyre, Rhins of Galloway,

Islay Islay ( ; , ) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll and Bute just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's cap ...

and

Paps of Jura The Paps of Jura () are three mountains on the western side of the island of Jura, Scotland, Jura, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Their highest point is . They are steep-sided quartzite hills with distinctive conical shapes Breast-shaped h ...

often visible from the Larne area – this proximity to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

has had a defining influence on Larne's history and culture. The town is within the small

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of the same name. Like the rest of Ireland, this parish is divided into

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

s. The following is a list of townlands within Larne's urban area, along with their likely

etymologies Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

: *Antiville (likely from ''An Tigh Bhile'' meaning "the house of the old tree") *Ballyboley (from ''Baile Buaile'' meaning "townland of the booley/dairy place") *Ballycraigy (from ''Baile Creige'' meaning "townland of the rocky outcrop") *Ballyloran (from ''Baile Loairn'' meaning "Loarn's townland") *Blackcave North *Blackcave South *Curran and Drumalis (from ''Córran'' meaning "crescent" and ''Druim a' Lios'' meaning "ridge of the ringfort") *Greenland *Inver (from ''Inbhear'' meaning "rivermouth") Many street names in Larne end in '' brae'', such as 'Whitla's Brae' which comes from the Scots for "hillside".

Civil parish of Larne

The civil parish contains the following townlands: Antiville, Ballyboley, Ballycraigy, Ballyloran, Blackcave North, Blackcave South, Curran and Drumaliss,

Glebe A glebe (, also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s)) is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church. ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

and Town Parks.

Gallery

Places of interest

The town has several parks, including Town Park, Chaine Park, Curran Park, and Smiley Park. Other leisure facilities include Larne Leisure Centre and Larne Museum & Arts Centre. Cairndhu Golf Course is situated atop of Ballygally Head and Larne Golf Course on sits atop of the

peninsula. Significant buildings and structures include Olderfleet Castle. Magheramorne, 5 miles to the south along Larne Lough, has a film studio which was used to film much of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

TV Series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

''.

Demography

2021 Census

On census day (21 March 2021) there were 18,853 people living in Larne. Of these: * 17.77% were aged under 16, 63.10% were aged between 16-65, and 19.13% were aged 66 and over. * 51.27% of the usually resident population were female and 48.73% were male. * 62.4% belong to or were brought up

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

(including other Christian-related denominations), 23.9% belong to or were brought up

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, 0.9% belong to or were brought up in an 'other' religion, and 12.8% did not adhere to or weren't brought up in any religion. * 66.6% indicated that they had a British national identity, 38.3% had a Northern Irish national identity, 10.3% had an Irish national identity, and 4.2% indicated they had an 'other' national identity. (respondents could indicate more than one national identity). * 17.51% had some knowledge of Ulster Scots and 3.84% had some knowledge of Irish (Gaeilge).

2011 Census

On census day (27 March 2011) there were 18,755 people living in Larne, accounting for 1.04% of the NI total. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright. Of these: * 18.59% were aged under 16 years and 18.00% were aged 65 and over. * 51.98% of the usually resident population were female and 48.02% were male. * 67.03% belong to or were brought up Protestant and other non-Catholic Christian (including Christian related) and 25.97% belong to or were brought up Catholic. * 71.62% indicated that they had a British national identity, 30.56% had a Northern Irish national identity and 8.75% had an Irish national identity (respondents could indicate more than one national identity). * 41 years was the average (median) age of the population. * 17.20% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots and 4.02% had some knowledge of Irish (Gaeilge).

Industry and commerce

Ballylumford power station in Northern Ireland's main power station. Other energy operators in Larne include B9 Energy (a renewable energy development company). Larne is also home to the headquarters of Caterpillar (NI) Limited (part of the Caterpillar group which manufactures diesel and gas generators), InspecVision (industrial inspection equipment), TerumoBCT (a Japanese manufacturer of intravenous drip solutions and blood products), and the LEDCOM (Larne Enterprise Development Company) business park. A number of shops can be found along Larne Main Street, Dunluce Street, Laharna Retail Park, and large supermarkets off the Harbour Highway near the harbour. A market is also held every Wednesday at the Larne Market Yard.

Transport

Ferry

Ferries sail from the harbour to Cairnryan in Scotland. Passenger services are operated by P&O Irish Sea which describes the crossings from Larne to Scotland as "the shortest, fastest crossings" due to the close proximity that Larne has to Scotland. An Irish Sea Bridge has been proposed, connecting Larne with Portpatrick in Scotland.

Road

Larne is connected to

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

by the A8 road. The A2 road or 'Antrim coast road' which runs along the Antrim coast, and passes through the scenic Glens of Antrim, also serves the town. South of the town the A2 passes the side of Larne Lough, via Glynn, Magheramorne, and Ballycarry, to Whitehead and

. The A36 road runs from the town to

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, making it the List of localities in Northern Ireland by population, seven ...

Rail

The Belfast–Larne railway line connects to Belfast Grand Central and Belfast Lanyon Place, via Whitehead,

and Jordanstown, also connects Larne to the Northern Ireland Railways network. Currently there is no freight transport by rail in Northern Ireland. Both Larne Town railway station and Larne Harbour railway station opened on 1 October 1862 and closed for goods traffic on 4 January 1965. The Ballymena and Larne Railway was a

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

. It opened in 1878, was closed to passengers in 1933 and finally completely closed in 1950. Another line ran from Larne to Ballyclare and some parts of it can still be made out where it ran along the Six Mile valley.

Public services

Larne Town Hall, the former headquarters of Larne Borough Council, was completed in 1870. Moyle Hospital offers limited services after the closure of its accident and emergency department.

Education

Secondary schools serving the area include Larne Grammar School and Larne High School. Northern Regional College (formerly Larne Technical College) is a college of further education.

Notable people

* Smiley baronets, series of baronets important in History of Larne * Dianne Barr, paralympic swimmer * Billy Brown, musician * James Chaine, Member of Parliament * Dave Clements, footballer and football manager * Fyfe Ewing, musician, drummer ( Therapy?) * Robert Ferguson, disc jockey *

Keith Gillespie Keith Robert Gillespie ( ; born 18 February 1975) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who plays as a winger for FC Mindwell in the Mid-Ulster Football League. He began his career at Manchester United after winning the FA Yo ...

, Sheffield United and

midfielder. * Robert John Gregg, pioneer of the academic study of

Ulster-Scots dialects Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect (whose proponents assert is a dialect of Scots) spoken in parts of Ulster, being almost exclusively spoken in parts of Northern Ireland and County Doneg ...

as well as a linguistic authority on

Canadian English Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the Variety (linguistics), varieties of English language, English used in Canada. According to the 2016 Canadian Census, 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or ...

* Mark Haggan, activist * Richard Hayward, actor/singer, author * Valerie Hobson, actress * Jeff Hughes, footballer * Michael Hughes,

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

and Coventry City footballer * Whitford Kane, actor * Valerie Lilley, actor ('' Shameless'') * Phillip Magee (''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'', series 2 finalist * Sir Ivan Magill, innovating anaesthetist; went to Larne Grammar school * Dave McAuley, former IBF

Flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

world champion boxer * Gareth McAuley, current

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

defender * Colin McGarry,

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the Wor ...

player * Adam McGurk, footballer * James McIlroy, Olympic runner * Bobby McKee,

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...

councillor; former Mayor of Larne * Jack McKee, alderman and veteran

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

politician * Michael McKeegan, musician ( Therapy?) * Amanda McKittrick Ros, author, poet; taught at Millbrook National School during the 1880s * Eddie McMorran, footballer * Arthur Meek, army officer * Eddie Mooney, musician ( The Dakotas,

The Fortunes The Fortunes are an English harmony beat music, beat group. Formed in Birmingham, the Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the US, Canadian, and UK Top 40, Top 10s. Aft ...

) * Hugh Nelson,

Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia The lieutenant governor of British Columbia () is the representative of the monarch in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The office of lieutenant governor is an office of the Crown and serves as a representative of the monarchy in the p ...

(1830–1893) *Robert Nelson, electronic music producer ( Agnelli & Nelson) *

Jonathan Rea Jonathan Rea (born 2 February 1987) is a People of Northern Ireland, Northern Irish professional Motorcycle sport, motorcycle racer. He competes in the Superbike World Championship and is a six-time champion in the series. He is the first to ha ...

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...

rider * Maxwell Reed, actor * Keith Semple, ( One True Voice from the ITV series '' Popstars: The Rivals'') * Jonny Steele,

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. ...

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

and Northern Ireland footballer * Norman Surplus, first person to complete a circumnavigation of Earth by

Autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), gyroscope, gyrocopter or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-d ...

* Harry Towb, actor

Freedom of the borough

In memory of a battle in the town of Musa Qala in Afghanistan in 2006, involving the Royal Irish Regiment, a new regimental march, composed by Chris Attrill and commissioned by

Larne Borough Council Larne Borough Council was a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymena Borough Council and Carrickfergus Borough Council in May 2015 under the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland to become Mid a ...

, was gifted to the regiment on Saturday 1 November 2008 in Larne, during an event in which the regiment was presented with " the Freedom of the Borough". This gave the regiment the right to march through the towns of the borough with 'flags flying, bands playing and bayonets fixed'. The march was named ''Musa Qala''.

Events

The Friends Goodwill Music Festival occurs in May each year and supports local music.

Sport

Association Football

Larne F.C., a professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club, plays in the

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

. Local amateur football clubs include Larne Technical Old Boys F.C. and Wellington Recreation F.C.

Rugby Union

Larne RFC is an amateur

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club, formerly based at Sandy Bay in the town, but relocated to the nearby village of Glynn in 1968.

Gaelic Games

Latharna Óg GAC is a hurling club, located at Brustin Brae, just outside the town, and won the 2019 Antrim Junior B Hurling Championship.

Twin city

Larne is twinned with

Clover Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversit ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, which has named one of its schools, Larne Elementary School, after Larne.

Notable facts

* Larnite – this mineral is named after Larne.

References

External links

A history of the Port of Larne
{{Authority control Ports and harbours of Northern Ireland Towns in County Antrim Port cities and towns in Northern Ireland