All Saints

All Saints has been described by Dr Paul Larmour, one of Ireland's leading architectural historians, as the finest example of Elizabethan Gothic ecclesiastical in Ireland and is one of the oldest parish churches in Northern Ireland that is in current use. It was the spiritual home of the Clotworthy and Massereene Families who had a castle in Antrim which was unfortunately destroyed in a fire in 1922.

The church building has been greatly enhanced by the generous endowments of the Massereene Family. Their family pew was part of the original 1596 construction and there is a burial vault under their family pew which is now used as a side chapel.

In 1816 a tower was added, which was funded by the Board of First Fruits and designed by John Bowden who was working on restoration work at Antrim Castle. The floorplan was further enhanced by the Massereene family who funded the building of a transept in 1869 and the west window. There are several significant funerial monuments in the church including one by R A Flaxman, which is considered to be one of his finest.

The Massereene Chapel has become the unofficial Royal British Legion Chapel for the town and several of their former standards are laid up alongside the two war memorials. The church has many stained glass windows of great quality including a rare panel featuring the martyrdom of St John the Baptist. There are several leper holes in the external wall.

The church is sited on an ancient burial ground which archaeologists have dated back to medieval times. The oldest gravestones, some of which have survived centuries of significant weathering, are dated from the early 1700s. The most famous grave is that of Dr Alexander Irvine, author of My Lady of the Chimney Corner whose ashes were interred in 1946.

All Saints continues to be the central focus for major acts of civic worship, the most recent being a service of commemoration following the death of Queen Elizabeth II at which the Mayor and representatives of the Council attended.