larne and district historical centre

The Larne area has a rich and considerably varied history upon which to draw. Much of this history is to be found in the landscape around, the buildings, cemeteries and old ruins.

There are several thousand photographs, featuring local football teams, choirs, bowling clubs, organisations, local sights now long changed, school classes from the past, and so on. They are valuable not only as a local history archive but also as a social record and are eagerly scanned by visitors to the centre.

On entering the centre the visitor has the chance to lean over a half door and gaze into the past, at a replica of an old-time country house kitchen from the beginning of the century. There is an open hearth fire burning peat cut from the hillsides around, the crane swinging over it and a kettle on the boil for a cup of tea.

Next door to the country kitchen is a small blacksmith's shop, preserving a mystifying collection of old pieces of machinery, horeshoes, hammers, anvil, chisels and other tools.