Ireland wasn’t always the best place to land if you were a Spanish sailor of the 16th century. The ships of the Spanish Armada which ended up on Irish shores received different sorts of welcomes. And sometimes the local people were more pleasant than the weather conditions.
There is not much left of Dunseverick Castle, the last fort on this location for perhaps over three thousand years. Though the historical records are sketchy, this was also a power centre for the Dal Riata kingdom which used its maritime skills parts of the north off Ireland and the west of Scotland
For the first time in my life, I was standing in a wide expanse of raw beauty, but I was alone. (Within an hour I was in Murlough Bay saying the same).
On my last evening in Ballycastle, I made a desperate attempt to see Murlough Bay, Torr Head, and Fair Head – in that order. The unexpected beauty of the first two had taken me by surprise, and delayed my arrival at Fair Head car park. By then, the fading April light was quite dim, and in a hurry I missed a sign saying “Private Property”
This is a real oddity. A lake that works like a kitchen sink.
This one is subtle. It looks like a big decorative slab. Nothing fancy and yet it is an ancient standing stone. Something precious in an environment which is somewhat less subtle.
Murlough Bay is in County Antrim. It is a bay which is hardly known in the south of Ireland. One can view Rathlin Island and views across the sea to the Mull of Kintyre, Islay, Jura and various other Scottish islands.
Sheep Island is an island off the north coast of Ireland in County Antrim. But it is not the only Sheep Island around. …
There is a mysterious carved face on an offshore rock near the Pans Rocks, Ballycastle beach. There are many local stories about the face…..
The Ballycastle area is the only coastal location of Carboniferous coal seams in Ireland. It is also an unusual mix of three different periods of geological change.