History of Carlingford

nt-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US">In 1637, the Surveyor General of Customs issued a report compiled from accounts of customs due from each port and their "subsidiary creeks". Of the Ulster ports on the list, Carrickfergus was first, followed by Bangor, Donaghadee, and Strangford. Carlingford and Coleraine each had £244 customs due and had equal ranking.

War and Ruin

The 1641 Rising by the Irish of Ulster, the Cromwellian Conquest of 1649, and the subsequent Williamite wars of the 1690s all took their toll on the local economy. As recorded in the Journal of Isaac Butler, Carlingford the town was in a "state of ruin" by 1744. However, the final nail in coffin was the desertion to open water of the prosperous herring shoals that occupied the lough by the early 18th century.

The Modern Era