ANTRIM  , a

market-town in the west of the county Antrim, Ireland, in the south parliamentary division, on the banks of the Six-Mile Water, half a mile from Lough Neagh, in a beautiful and fertile valley . Pop . (19o1) 1826 . It is 21; M. north-west of Belfast by the Northern Counties (Midland) railway, and is also the terminus of a branch of the Great Northern railway from Lisburn . There is nothing in the town specially worthy of notice, but the environs, including Shane's Castle and Antrim Castle, possess features of considerable interest . About a mile from the town is one of the most perfect of the round towers of Ireland, 93 ft. high and 50 in circumference at the base . It stands in the grounds of Steeple, a neighbouring seat, where is also the " Witches' Stone," a prehistoric monument . A battle was fought near Antrim between the English and Irish in the ANTWERP reign of Edward III.; and in 1642 a naval engagement took place on Lough Neagh, for Viscount Massereene and Ferrard (who founded Antrim Castle in 1662) had a right to maintain a fighting fleet on the lough . On the 7th of June 1798 there was a smart action in the town between the king's troops and a large body of rebels, in which the latter were defeated, and Lord O'Neill mortally wounded . Before the Union Antrim returned two members to parliament by virtue of letters patent granted in 1666 by Charles II . There are manufactures of paper, linen, and woollen cloth . The government is in the hands of town commissioners .