Carrickfergus boasts Ireland’s sole surviving coal gasworks and is one of the only three left in the British Isles. Opened in 1855, it supplied Carrickfergus with gas made from coals for over 100 years before it closed in 1987.
It was fully restored by a local volunteer group along with government funding and has been reopened as a visitor and educational attraction in the Co Antrim town.
This museum gives visitors the opportunity to see Europe’s largest surviving set of horizontal retorts (in which the gas was made), meet the manager and the workers, and ascend the working gasholder for panoramic views of Carrickfergus town.
Address: Flame! – The Gasworks Museum of Ireland, Irish Quarter West, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim BT38 8AT
Antrim is the county town of County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Antrim is a small town not frequently visited by tourists, yet it is one of the more historic towns in Northern Ireland with many interesting sights and buildings of historic note.