Towns in Ireland.

In earlier times Randalstown was called 'An Dun Mor' which referred to an Irish fort situated in the grounds of present day Shane's Castle, after the plantation the fort was converted into a Baily.

The town grew up around an Iron Works established in the early 1600's by 1657 it was called Iron Mill, in 1666 Lady Rose Ann O'Neill of Shane's Castle obtained a charter from Charles II making the town a free borough with the right to send two members to the Irish Parliament in Dublin. It was at this time the town was renamed Randalstown in honour of Sir Randal McDonnell the 2nd Earl and first Marques of Antrim.

The area was also a 'Potwallowing borough' which meant that anyone boiling a pot of yarn was entitled to vote. After the Act of Union in 1801 the town lost its status as a borough.

In the early days of the town there were three malt distilleries all of which closed in 1780 when a duty on whisky was imposed. By 1812 a linen industry was established, cotton spinning and calico weaving industries were established.

In 1864 on the site of Iron Works a linen factory was built, this new factory went from strength to strength, at its peak in the 1930's it employed over 1,000 people exporting it products far and wide, by the early 1980' with the Irish Linen Industry in serious decline the factory closed and was demolished some years later.

Much of the early architectural fabric of the town survives including the Market House, built in 1770, it was seriously damaged in 1798 in 'The Battle of Randalstown' during The United Irishmen Rebellion. The Northern Bank building dating from 1868 with additions in 1903 still survives as does the former Court and Market House built in 1831.