Exploring Larne: a Brief History of This Seaport Town

Today, Larne is one of Ireland’s busiest seaports and welcomes 750,000 passengers, not to mention 385,000 freight units every year. However, although its fortitude as a harbour has been undisputed for many centuries, Larne hasn’t always been a hub of commerce and industry. While, today, Larne may be renowned for its integral role in freight shipping and sea crossings, it was once better known as the playground of pre-Christian royalty as well as the site of preference for pillaging Viking raiders.

Historians can date Larne’s existence back to Mid Paleolithic times. Unsurprisingly, Larne has gone through several name changes in its time. The name Larne is originally believed to have derived from Lathar, son of the ancient King Hugony the Great of Ireland, who gifted his son a stretch of land that supposedly encompassed the area around Larne, as we know it today.

More recently, the Romans and ancient Greeks, who knew of its existence in the 2nd Century AD, recognised a post called Portus Saxa, now believed to be Larne Lough on ancient maps. The Vikings too left their mark on Larne; the Lough at one stage was called Ulfrich, after a Norse King.

Despite a name change or two, as a natural inlet, Larne always served a popular purpose, whether as a small fishing harbour or laterally, as an industrial scale freight port.

Over the 19th and 20th Centuries, Larne developed through change and challenge, whether galvanised through war or tragedy, or moulded by the hands of shipping entrepreneurs, such as James Chaine and Lt. Colonel Frank Bustard.

Enterprising people perhaps did the most to put Larne on the industrial road map to success. James Chaine, who bought the harbour in 1866 for a down payment of £9,000, repaired the pier, existing quays and provided a rail link to the port. He also introduced a regular paddle steamboat crossing service between Larne and Stranraer, which commenced in 1872.

In 1873, Larne began its integral role in the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Brits and Irish, who travelled from Glasgow, via Larne to New York.

Into the 20th Century and Larne continued to prosper, as well as provide vital services. During the First and Second World Wars, Larne became a navel and ammunitions port to the Allied Forces, and through which five million people - 4.3 million of whom were service personnel - passed en route to various landings, including the 1944 Normandy D-Day landings.

Like James Chaine, entrepreneur Lt. Colonel Frank Bustard had similar vision for Larne in the 20th Century and was integral in its development as a freight shipping port. He initiated the pioneering Roll-on/Roll-off loading service for freight ships, for which he was awarded an OBE in 1965.

Larne grew under Buster’s Transport Ferry Service (TFS), which commenced freight crossings between Larne and Preston in 1948. This service eventually ceased in 1973, but made way for the development of the Cairnryan to Larne crossing, which was operated by the TFS under the new ownership of Atlantic Steam Navigation Company. Larne now offered the shortest crossing on the Irish Sea, which was to prove big business for the small Irish community.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, the port underwent a series of redevelopments and growth in loading and storage facilities, new quays and purchasing and maintaining nearby harbours. All of this worked to consolidate Larne’s services, enabling the port to receive even greater traffic in sailings and passengers.

Throughout the 1970s, 80s, 90s and into the new Millennium, Larne was redeveloped significantly and further modernised, with multi-million pound distribution and freight centres built to further develop service provision.

To this day, Larne continues to operate around the clock, seven days a week. By taking a ferry to Larne you will arrive into one of the busiest commercial ports on the Irish Sea, welcoming over 200,000 tourist vehicles a year.