Carrickfergus Castle on Belfast Lough in County Antrim was built in 1177 by John de Courcy as his headquarters, and the article names no architect. It is stone and described as a Norman castle. A new curtain wall was funded in 1217, and gatehouse additions begun under Hugh de Lacy were finished around 1250.
The inner ward has a polygonal curtain wall, an east gate and a great hall. The east tower has crossbow loops at basement level, and the gatehouse has a ribbed vault, a murder hole and a portcullis at each end. Land reclamation reduced the water-bound perimeter from three-quarters to about a third.
Artillery gunports were added in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the castle was used as a prison from 1797. In 1928 post-Norman and Victorian additions were removed to restore a Norman look. It was garrisoned for about 750 years and is now a state-care monument open to the public.
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