Mid and East Antrim comprises 40 of Northern Ireland's 462 electoral wards, covering 3,196 km² of land — roughly 8.7% of the NI ward total. Across these wards, the combined heritage record holds 1,629 recorded historic sites, 159 scheduled monuments, and 962 listed buildings, drawn from the NISMR, HED scheduled monuments register, and HED Historic Buildings Record. That places the council at a mid-range recorded density of 0.56 sites per km² (6th of NI's eleven councils). With an average of 80 km² per ward, this is a predominantly rural council — ward areas here are larger than the NI median, reflecting lower population density rather than larger administrative units. The 2021 Census records 137,794 residents across the council's wards. The single richest ward in the council by recorded heritage is Carnlough And Glenarm (451 combined records); a complete ranked list of all 40 wards in this council appears below.
Heritage at a glance
Chronological character
Aggregated across the council's wards, the dated archaeological record contains 1,323 sites distributed across 9 archaeological periods. The Iron Age period is the most common (315 sites, 24%), with the Early Medieval period in second place (306 sites, 23%). Sparsely represented periods include Neolithic — each under 2% of the dated record. As elsewhere in NI, thin period coverage typically reflects survey gaps rather than genuine absence of activity.
Most common monument types
The table below lists the council’s most frequently recorded monument types, with the share they form of this council’s record compared to their share of the NI-wide record.
| Monument type | In this council | % of council | NI comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enclosure | 153 | 42.7% | over-represented (1.6× NI average) |
| Souterrain | 36 | 10.1% | over-represented (3.3× NI average) |
| Rath | 28 | 7.8% | under-represented (0.3× NI average) |
| Mound | 16 | 4.5% | over-represented (9.0× NI average) |
| Field System | 16 | 4.5% | over-represented (15.0× NI average) |
| Standing Stone | 11 | 3.1% | in line with NI average (1.1×) |
Geographic character
Mean ward elevation across the council is 86m, around the NI median. Land cover averages combine 57% grassland, 18% woodland and 22% urban land, giving a varied mosaic across the council's wards.
All wards in Mid and East Antrim
The complete list of 40 wards in this council. Click any ward to view its full heritage profile.
| Ward | HS | SM | LB | Total | km² | Dominant period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnlough And Glenarm | 223 | 25 | 203 | 451 | 334.3 | Medieval |
| Slemish | 272 | 20 | 8 | 300 | 540.6 | Iron Age |
| Glenwhirry | 140 | 13 | 8 | 161 | 345.5 | Early Medieval |
| Ballycarry And Glynn | 59 | 10 | 80 | 149 | 137.2 | Medieval |
| Kilwaughter | 115 | 11 | 22 | 148 | 194.0 | Early Medieval |
| Glenravel | 98 | 6 | 11 | 115 | 265.7 | Mesolithic |
| Islandmagee | 66 | 5 | 42 | 113 | 98.3 | Mesolithic |
| Maine | 58 | 5 | 42 | 105 | 172.1 | Early Medieval |
| Woodburn | 84 | 8 | 12 | 104 | 146.9 | Mesolithic |
| Kirkinriola | 89 | 6 | 3 | 98 | 179.8 | Iron Age |
| Cairncastle | 50 | 8 | 36 | 94 | 97.0 | Early Medieval |
| Castle Demesne | 4 | 1 | 83 | 88 | 4.8 | Early Medieval |
| Castle | 21 | 4 | 61 | 86 | 3.9 | Medieval |
| Portglenone | 57 | 7 | 13 | 77 | 119.1 | Iron Age |
| Curran And Inver | 20 | 0 | 54 | 74 | 14.0 | Medieval |
| Kilroot | 44 | 8 | 22 | 74 | 57.7 | Iron Age |
| Galgorm | 18 | 3 | 50 | 71 | 30.2 | Iron Age |
| Grange | 48 | 4 | 9 | 61 | 181.3 | Iron Age |
| Broughshane | 23 | 2 | 35 | 60 | 47.5 | Mesolithic |
| Whitehead South | 12 | 3 | 41 | 56 | 23.1 | Medieval |
| Kells | 30 | 3 | 16 | 49 | 65.5 | Early Medieval |
| Greenisland | 26 | 2 | 15 | 43 | 18.8 | Early Medieval |
| Cullybackey | 12 | 3 | 14 | 29 | 14.9 | Early Medieval |
| Ahoghill | 13 | 1 | 7 | 21 | 20.9 | Iron Age |
| Love Lane | 7 | 1 | 13 | 21 | 3.6 | Medieval |
| Gardenmore | 0 | 0 | 17 | 17 | 5.3 | Unknown |
| The Maidens | 3 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 4.3 | Post-Medieval |
| Victoria | 4 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 5.0 | Mesolithic |
| Craigyhill | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 5.4 | Early Medieval |
| Fair Green | 3 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 3.7 | Post-Medieval |
| Academy | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 7.9 | Early Medieval |
| Ballee And Harryville | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 12.6 | Iron Age |
| Ardeevin | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 10.3 | Early Medieval |
| Burleigh Hill | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3.4 | Post-Medieval |
| Boneybefore | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 2.7 | Modern |
| Gortalee | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3.5 | Unknown |
| Park | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 3.6 | Iron Age |
| Ballykeel | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4.4 | Medieval |
| Sunnylands | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2.5 | Iron Age |
| Braidwater | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.4 | Iron Age |
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Want a deeper view?
Grounding History: 10 Maps of Northern Ireland’s Past
A spatial history report bringing together analysis of all 462 wards into one place through 10 high-quality maps — covering monument density, archaeological periods, placename heritage, terrain, wetland, and the historic landscape at first survey.
About this profile
This council profile aggregates the recorded archaeological, built-heritage, terrain, and population data from each of its 40 wards. All figures describe the recorded evidence held in the public datasets listed at the foot of this page; the profile does not interpret historical processes or make inferences that are not directly supported by the data.
For full methodology — including a description of the ward geography, what counts as a recorded site, how period attributions are made, and what the limits of survey coverage mean for these figures — see the main methodology page.