|
|
About the Area
Ballintoy harbour is five and a half miles from Ballycastle, and about half a mile from the village of Ballintoy. The harbour itself offers a quiet place for a picnic, and lots of beautiful scenery. Truly one of the most beautiful harbours on the North Antrim Coast. Ballintoy village was originally built around a single street with the result of separating the inland pastures from the strip fields running towards the sea.
Carrick - a - Rede / Larrybane
Carrick-a Rede rope bridge. Carrick-a-Rede means "The Rock in the Passageway" and refers to the path taken by the Salmon, on their return to the rivers in which they had been spawned. The bridge is used by the fishermen during the Salmon season. The terrifying eighty foot drop can be crossed via the swinging bridge - not for the faint hearted!
RATHLIN ISLAND. Six miles off the shore of Ballycastle. Rathlin is steeped in history. The story is told that Robert the Bruce on the run from Scotland, hid in a cave. While resting he watched a spider attempting to spin a web from one ledge to another, after the seventh attempt it succeeded, and inspired Robert the Bruce to return to Scotland, where he defeated the English at the battle of Bannockburn.
Ballycastle
Originating in the 17th century this event
occurred at Dunanyie Head, now known as Castle Point where Silver Cliffs Holiday
Park is situated. Some say that the fair started out as a sheep market, others
say that it originated when Sorley Boy MacDonnell ordered a celebration for his
nephew. Either way it grew and migrated as Ballycastle has developed in later
years. It is now most famous for it's 'Dulse' - edible seaweed that has been
collected from local shores and dried out and 'Yellow Man' - a yellow candy
similar in texture to toffee and taste of honeycomb.
Well over a hundred stalls ply their trade yearly with products ranging from
CDs, tapes, clothing, car accessories, tools, entertainment, souvenirs, sweets,
food, horses, ponies, household goods, etc...
White Park Bay, one of the most beautiful strands on the North coast. It stretches from Ballintoy to Port Bradden, which can claim to be the most important Stone age settlement in Northern Ireland. It was here that man discovered Flints, which were used in the manufacture of Flint scrapers, and Knives. Portbradden means, "Port of the Salmon."
The Giants Causeway is truly an inspiring natural phenomenon. Its creation being an extremely violent one. Both high earth temperatures and immense pressure through rapid cooling formed these basalt columns, mostly hexagonal, some consisting of four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest of which is approx. 40 feet high. This complemented by the vast lava flow being some 90 feet thick in places makes this a must to see. It is believed by locals that the Giants Causeway was home to the giant Finn McCool. He is thought to have lifted a large portion of earth and threw it at a retreating Scottish giant. The earth landed in the sea and created, the Isle of Man. The place where it was lifted from filled with water and became Lough Neagh.
The Old Bushmills Distillery is the world's oldest licensed Whiskey Distillery. King James I granted the original License to distil 'Acqua Vitae' in April 1608 and since then Bushmills has been making the finest Irish Malt Whiskey here for almost four hundred years .
Portballintrae
Pretty seaside village with a tradition of fishing based around the harbour. The village had the distinction of being the only place in Ireland to be shelled from the sea during the 1914-1918 war. Portballintrae was the headquarters of Robert Stenuit, the Belgian marine archaeologist who, with a team of divers,1ocated and retrieved the famous Girona treasure - one of the Spanish Armada's galleons. Part of the treasure can be viewed at the Ulster Museum, Belfast
North West 200 Motorcycle Races
