At the beginning of the next century Clannaboy Niall, son of Con of Belfast, was prisoner in the castle on account of a row between his servants and some soldiers (1507). He exchanged his freedom for sixteen hostages, but no sooner was he liberated than he returned with his followers and took the castle and the Mayor, and rescued his pledges. In 1552 Sorley Boy MacDonnell surprised Carrickfergus and carried off Walter Floody, the constable of the castle. In consequence of these disturbances the Earl of Sussex marched to relieve the town in 1555. Two years later Hugh O’Neill Oge and some other prisoners in the castle escaped to join James M’Donnell. In 1559 the fortress was walled in and repaired. The building seems to have been much dilapidated in 1567, and upon Sir Henry Sidney coming north the following year, he had the keep roofed and restored. When the Earl of Essex arrived by sea in 1573, he reports that he discharged the ward of the castle, for it “doth not serve of any use, having in it very few rooms, and none of those covered, so as I have no apt place to employ her Majesty’s munition and other store but in wet vaults.” From 1583 to 1598 Carrickfergus was the only town held by the Queen in the district, and in the latter year the castle was but poorly provisioned. General Monroe, with four thousand Scotch auxiliaries, landed and took the castle in 1642, but four years later he was surprised by General Monk, who occupied the stronghold for the Parliament, being made Governor of it shortly afterwards. The next year, but small resistance was offered to Lord Inchiquin, who then held it for the King for a few months, and it was retaken by Sir Charles Coote, who appointed a Governor for the Commonwealth. In 1666, while the Duke of Ormond was at the head of affairs, so great was the dissatisfaction that the castle was seized by mutinous soldiers, and a strong force was required to quell the disturbance. Eight years later the fortress was ordered to be furnished with twenty cannon. The adherents of James II. sustained here a siege for six days from the troops of the Duke of Schomberg in 1689, after which they surrendered. It was on the 14th of June in this year that King William III. landed at Carrickfergus from the yacht _Mary_. In 1711 50 feet of the outer wall fell down, and the tower was roofed with lead. The castle was taken by the French Commodore Thurôt with three ships of war in 1760, but his squadron was captured a few days later by the English fleet. In 1797 the United Irishmen laid a plot to seize the castle, which was discovered by one of the garrison turning informer. The year after the rebellion State prisoners were confined at Carrickfergus, having been sent from Belfast. At one time the fortress was used as a prison for all Antrim. In 1814 a small square tower on the south side was taken down and rebuilt. The castle is now in the possession of the Crown. AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.