Mark Twain, was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. The old spelling on the 1669 Hearth Rolls is Clemence and later Clements. The family is one of the oldest in Ireland and they have played a prominent part in public affairs

In the year 1210 King John granted a charter to Henry Clements and Roger de Preston to lands near the present town of Larne in County Antrim. The family prospered and spread over the centuries.

In 1609 Edward and John Clements settled on land between Ballynure, Ballyclare and Straid which became known ever since as Clements Hill. Edward married Elenor Dalway, daughter of a great family in the Ballynure area and she was buried in the old churchyard in 1626.

The historian Miskimin records that in 1640 their son Henry, was Deputy Recorder of the Carrickfergus. He was a captain in the garrison and an alderman.

CARRICKFERGUS Henry's sons, Henry, Edward, Andrew and Francis also served as aldermen. Henry represented the town in Parliament in 1692. A slab in the church records that when he died on the 2nd September 1696 at the age of fifty two he was Mayor of Carrickfergus. Edward succeeded to the family estates. In 1707 he was living at Clements Hill and was High Sheriff of the County of Antrim. He died in 1733

Carrickfergus is an ancient town which grew after John de Courcey built the castle. He is buried in St Nicholas Chirch which he built. Some of its walls and gates remain. The castle has been beseiged several times. Both William of Orange and Queen Elizabeth 11 have landed at the quay American Links Index

The Norman Castle at Carrickfergus