Templepatrick
County Antrim.

Templepatrick is said to have derived its name when in AD 450 St Patrick baptized converts, and established a church. It is thought that when the Knight's of St John settled here they built their castle on the original church site.

The castle was granted to Captain Humphery de Norton in 1619, the castle was sold 14 years later to Captain Henry Upton. The reason for the sale was that de Norton's only daughter ran off with a soldier, Norton sold the estate to prevent his daughter inheriting it.

The castle is reputedly haunted by the ghost of one of the Upton wives who refused to become Catholic and was burnt to death by her husband. This story seems strangely out of place because a Miss Anne Upton married William Conynhan II of Springhill County Derry who's family had always been strong supporters of the loyalist cause.

A few miles from Templepatrick on the Belfast road is Patterson's Spade Mill, this property is owned and run as a working Spademill by the National Trust. The mill which is powered by a water turbine was fully restored and is capable of producing digging and turf spades in the traditional manner, The mill is open to the public in the summer months.