There are few buildings in Ireland with such well chronicled and fascinating long history as Carrickfergus Castle. It appears first in the official English records in 1210 when the notorious King John laid siege to it and took control of what was then Ulster’s premier strategic garrison. Lord Edward Bruce, brother of King Robert the Bruce of Scotland captured the Castle in 1315, though it was later retaken and remained the one sure bastion of the English in the late Middle Ages while elsewhere that country’s power was in decline. The 16th century was a volatile one for the Castle, when it was attacked on several occasions. Most notably in 1760 a French assault by Commodore Thurot’s forces prevailed and the Castle was surrendered. In the late 1790s the Castle was employed as a state and county prison and many United Irishmen were to know the grimness of incarceration there. In 1928, 700 years of continuous military occupation were ended when it was preserved as an ancient monument. The most notable ghost is one of a soldier affectionately known as Buttoncap, named after the large button worn on his headdress. This spirit is said to haunt a small area near an old well, and it believed he was executed after a case of mistaken identity. Eye witness accounts also mention sightings of the ghost of a drummer boy.