More about Larne

During the 18th century many Irish emigrated to America from the port of Larne. A monument in Curran Park commemorates the Friends Goodwill, the first emigrant ship to sail from Larne in May 1717, heading for Boston in the United States. Boston's long standing Irish roots can be traced to Larne. As with western and southern Ireland Larne, unlike some areas of north–east (Antrim, Down, Louth and North Dublin) and eastern Ireland (South Dublin, Wicklow), was hugely affected by the Irish Famine of the mid 19th century.

Ferries sail from the harbour to destinations including Cairnryan and Troon in Scotland, and Fleetwood in England. Larne is connected to Belfast by the A8 road. The A2 road or 'Antrim coast road' which runs along the Antrim coast, and passes through the scenic Glens of Antrim, also serves the town. South of the town the A2 passes the side of Larne Lough, via Glynn, Magheramorne, and Ballycarry, to Whitehead and Carrickfergus. The A36 road runs from the town to Ballymena. A railway route to Belfast, via Whitehead and Carrickfergus, also connects Larne to the Northern Ireland Railways network. Currently there is no freight transport by rail in Northern Ireland. Both Larne Town railway station and Larne Harbour railway station opened on 1 October 1862 and closed for goods traffic on 4 January 1965. The Ballymena and Larne Railway was a narrow gauge railway. It opened in 1878, was closed to passengers in 1933 and finally completely closed in 1950.

Larne is classified as a Large Town by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)[3] (i.e. with population between 18,000 and 75,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 18,228 people living in Larne. Of these: 20.9% were aged under 16 years and 21.2% were aged 60 and over 48.2% of the population were male and 51.8% were female 4.3% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

Larne Harbour Police is a very small (approximately seven officers), specialised police force responsible for policing Larne Harbour. The officers of the force are sworn in as special constables under the Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act 1847, and are responsible to Larne Harbour Ltd. Jurisdiction of the constables of this very small specialised port police extends to one mile beyond the Harbour Complex.

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