Historic cannon welcomed home to Carrickfergus Castle after restoration work

A small crowd gathered on Monday morning to watch as the cannon as well as newly built gun carriages were lifted by crane up over the walls of the Co Antrim castle to resume their position.

While the castle itself is Norman and dates back to the 12th century, the cannon are believed to have been installed in the 18th century.

They have been identified by Royal Armouries as British “Rose and Crown” six-pounder, cast-iron smooth-bore guns dating to around 1717.

During the conservation work, gun carriers were also built to be more historically accurate than the previous used which had been made in the 1980s.

The restoration work comes as part of a wider programme which will also see the other 12 cannon in the castle worked on.

Erin McKnight, a painter and decorative finisher at the Department for Communities said they sourced purpleheart wood to make the gun carriages because of the traditional teak not being able to be used.

“My part in the work was to recoat and conserve the metal work of the cannon, and then to stain, dye and protect the wooden carriages,” she said.

“This was a really exciting project for me, having never worked on cannon before, and especially working with the purpleheart wood which was very interesting material to work with.

“It is quite close in material make-up to teak which would have been the wood that was used but that is not sustainable for us to work with anymore. The archaeologists chose purpleheart as it is close to teak it and would last the test of time.

“Its incredibly satisfying to see the cannon back in their home and able to be enjoyed by visitors again.”

Joiner George Irwin said they wanted to go back to the original concept for the gun carriers, but described it as “very challenging” with each cannon and carrier together weighing 1.7 tonnes.

“It was back breaking and very challenging, but that is why I love this kind of work,” he said.

“We sourced the design from old cannon of that age, and drew out a template.

“It is a proud moment seeing them in place – we did worry about about them fitting into the recesses – but everything fit in place and it’s great to see them there now.”

Senior archaeologist at the Department for Communities Edith Gowdy said it had been very strange to see the castle without the cannon over the last year as “such a physical part of the story of the castle”.

“The cannon were lifted out last July again by crane and taken to our conservation works team depot,” she said.

“It’s really important because the cannon are part of the story of the castle. Those two in particular, there is a photograph of them being used as gate posts at the front of the castle about 100 years ago, so it’s nice that they’re now restored to a more appropriate place within the castle where they help to tell its story and the defence of Belfast Lough and the town of Carrickfergus itself.”

She said the work is part of the Carrickfergus city deal regeneration project.

“We have been conducting a number of conservation works within the castle itself, starting in 2019 with a new roof on the keep and a new roof on the gate house, repointing of the walls and we are in the process of finishing the sea tower, repointing the external walls to try and weatherproof the building to keep the rain and sea water out,” she said.

“There is also work planned for the internal room, and the main point is to bring the castle up to a good conservation standard and to open more areas to visitors in the future.”