ANTRIM, a county of Ireland, in the province of Ulster. It is bounded on the north and east by the sea, on the west by the county of Londonderry, and on the south by Lough Neagh, and the county of Down. Its greatest length, from north to south, is fifty-six English miles, and its greatest breadth about thirty. It contains 622,059 English acres, or about 972 square miles. The face of the country, especially toward the north and cast, is very mountainous, and some parts of it are like wise exceedingly marshy : the richer and more fertile dis tricts arc well cultivated, particularly towards the south. The attention of the inhabitants, however, is chiefly di rected to the linen manufacture. Indeed the farms are generally in the hands of the weavers, and usually con sist of only a few acres. On these they raise their own flax ; and they commonly have part of the ground laid out in oats, potatoes, and grass for a cow, which supply them with their ordinary diet. Of the mountains in this county, the most considerable arc, Dcvis, near Bel fast, Slemish, towards the middle, and Knocklayd, in the northern part of the county. The northern coast of Antrim is particularly celebrated for a remarkable range of basaltic pillars, called the Giant's Causeway. This consists of an irregular arrangement of many hun dred thousand pillars, most of which are of a pentagonal form ; but they are so closely united together at their sides, that scarcely any thing can be introduced between them. The principal causeway extends into the sea, and is visible at low water for about 200 yards. In
general, the breadth does not exceed twenty or thirty feet ; and the height of the pillars is in some places about twenty feet, and in others not less than forty. The stupendous promontories of Bengore and Fairhcad, the Robogdium of Ptolemy, are composed in a great mea sure of these pillars. The rivers of this county are very numerous, but generally small. The Lower Baum which divides Antrim from Londonderry, and dis charges the waters of Lough Neagh into the sea, and the Lagan, which falls into the ocean near Belfast, are the most considerable. The chief towns in this county are, Antrim, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Lisburn, Ballymena, and Ballymoney. This county returns five members to the imperial parliament, namely, two for the shire, and one for each of the three principal towns, Belfast, Car rickfergus, and Lisburn. The assizes, elections, Sec. are held at Carrickfergus, and the quarter-sessions at, Antrim. At present, the greater part of the inhabitants of this county are of Scots extraction, and most of them are attached to the presbyterial) form of worship, being connected with the general synod of Ulster, or with the two classes of seceders from the church of Scotland, called burghers and antiburghers. In 1791, the num ber of houses, according to an official return made to the house of commons, amounted to 30,314, from which the inhabitants, supposing about 51 to a house, have been estimated at near 170,000. See GIANT's CAVSE WAY. (W. B.)