European Highlander bow in at MacKean Quay on the 12th of July 2002

MacKean Quay was the first berth constructed at the present harbour, probably dating from 1843 when a Mr William Agnew was reported to have constructed a 200 feet long quay with 16 feet depth of water at low tide.  On the 1st of October 1862 the Belfast railway reached MacKean Quay and the first train ran over it carrying passengers just arrived from Stranraer in the paddle steamer Briton.

When the mail service to Stranraer was established under the leadership of James Chaine on the 1st of July 1872 what is now MacKean Quay became the berth for the mail boat.  The berth became known as the Mail berth, a name that stuck through to 1978.  

In readiness for a new ro-ro car ferry service between Stranraer and Larne the Mail berth was fitted with a car ramp, allowing cars to be driven between ship and shore at any state of the tide without the archaic business of entering a fixed depth dock system.  This ramp together with its counterpart in Stranraer became the first ro-ro ramps of their kind in Britain.  Now they are common place in ferry ports throughout the country.

During the war this ramp became a major bonus to the army who used it to ferry many tonnes of heavy military plant to and from the mainland in the three Dover train ferries, Hampton Ferry, Twickenham Ferry and Shepperton Ferry.  The war department even sanctioned the building of a second ramp at what is now Continental Quay.

The Hampton Ferry at the Mail berth ramp in the 50's.  Photo: William Agnew

The ramp and berth continued more or less unaltered until 1986, although Larne Harbour Limited had to buy the rights to the berth from Sealink.  An obscure contract dating from the 1930s had given the railway company exclusive rights to the berth and on payment of 30,000 pounds Sealink surrendered the rights to Larne Harbour Ltd in 1981.

The mail berth became known as the MacKean Quay in 1983 after the death of the chairman Major George MacKean.  This renaming perpetuated the name MacKean at the harbour as members of the MacKean family had served on the board of Larne Harbour Ltd since it creation in 1912.  Two of them, Major George MacKean and Charles MacKean both became chairmen of the board at various times.

In 1986 the berth was extensively rebuilt with a new double deck ramp installed and the length of the berth extended to accommodate larger ferries.  The Fleetwood ferries then took up residence until summer 2000 when they swapped berths with the Cairnryan vessels.

Updated: 13/02/05

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