Earl of Antrim papers

The estate papers of the Earls of Antrim form one of the largest collections of privately deposited papers in PRONI, comprising approximately 50,000 documents dating from the beginning of the seventeenth century.

In 1603 James I confirmed the first Earl of Antrim in possession of the four northern baronies of County Antrim, an area of approximately 520 square miles, including the Antrim coast from Larne to the mouth of the Bann. Over the years most of this land was lost but a substantial estate remained in the hands of the family until the end of the nineteenth century, including property in the towns of Lame, Glenarm, Ballymoney and Portrush. The use of the Giant's Causeway as a back drop is designed to draw attention not only to the role played by the Earls of Antrim in the recent history of the Causeway, but also the impact of the estate on the economic and social development of north Antrim.

The documents on display are records both of the Earls of Antrim and their descendants and of the people who lived and worked on the estate over a period of 300 years and are intended to illustrate the breadth of material available in this collection.