The story of Olderfleet
The Curran point has guarded the mouth of Larne Lough for centuries. The name Olderfleet is thought to come from Ulfreksfjord, the Norse name for Larne Lough, a reminder that Viking ships once used this sheltered water. A tower house here is traditionally linked to the Scoto-Irish Bissett family of Glenarm, said to have held a castle on the Curran from around 1250.
Olderfleet's most famous moment came in 1315, when Edward Bruce, brother of Robert the Bruce, landed near here with a Scottish army intent on taking Ireland from the English crown. The Bissetts are associated with that landing, which opened a brutal three-year campaign across the island.
The standing remains, however, are now generally dated to the 16th century — a square, four-storey tower house with gun loops in its basement, built to control the harbour and serve as a defended warehouse. In 1569 the crown seized this strategically vital point, and by the early 1600s it was tied into the wider Plantation-era effort to hold the sea route between Ireland and Scotland.
In 1938 the ruin passed into state care, and it is now protected under the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (NI) Order 1995. Only the tall south gable and parts of the tower survive, but they still mark the spot where Norse traders, the Bissetts and Edward Bruce's invasion all met the Antrim coast.