Cairncastle

Cairncastle (or Carncastle) is a small village and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland near the town of Larne and inland from the village of Ballygally. It had a population of 66 people in the 2001 Census. Cairncastle is home to one of the oldest churches and public houses in the country, as well as Knockdhu ("Black Hills"). Knockdhu is a Bronze Age promontory fort and settlement situated approximately one mile to the west of Cairncastle. The site consists of a set of three banks and ditches, Bronze Age roundhouses, and a probable gatehouse. It was excavated for the first time in 2008 for a Time Team episode that was first broadcast on 18 January 2009. Recently, Cairncastle has been featured on HBO's Game of Thrones as part of the estate of the Stark Family in the North. It is famously the location in the first episode where Ned Stark beheads the Night's Watchman.