Co. Antrim

The following article about Dunluce Castle was kindly shared by a Northern Ireland Guide reader. If you have any old stories, folklore or otherwise, feel free to share them here.

The gaunt ruins of Dunluce stand in splendid isolation upon a rock rising sheer out of the Atlantic and the Castle has been praised and described by Sir Walter Scott in one of his novels, but under another name. Details as to the actual building of the Castle are lost in the mists of antiquity, but it was in the hands of the English in the fifteenth century, and in 1580 it had passed to the McQuillans. After a chequered career the Castle finally became the property of the McDonnells. Lord Antrim resided here until the rebellion of 1641, but a short while later one of the rooms fell bodily into the sea, carrying nine persons with it and the Castle was abandoned. It has remained a ruin ever since.

All that remains of Dunseverick Castle is a small and unimpressive wall on top of a precipice that faces the ocean. You would never guess that a distinguished castle once stood on that spot and that the area was popular enough to attract a number of visits from Saint Patrick himself.

As a matter of fact, the wall that remains is the only part of the castle not destroyed by General Munro during the Irish rebellion of 1641. According to one source, the thick wall was the only part of the castle Munro's troops weren't able to demolish. I guess they weren't thinking of future tourism potential...

The ruins of Dunluce Castle have sat on the edge of the North Antrim cliffs for centuries, providing one of the iconic images of Northern Ireland. In fact, Dunluce Castle is one of the essential stops in any proper tour of the North Coast, alongside the Giant's Causeway and Carrick A Rede rope bridge.

It's widely believed that even before a castle existed on this site that it was some kind of pre-Christian fort.

Belfast Castle is one of the city's hidden gems. Situated off the Antrim Road, it may not be the most central of Belfast attractions, but it's well worth the visit.

Not only can you have a leisurely dander around the castle gardens, but there are plenty of walks in the nearby Cave Hill Country Park, including an adventure playground for the children.

The castle itself is an elegant sandstone construction, built in the Scottish Baronial style by the architects Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon - the principal work was done by the junior partner in that firm, John Lanyon (son of Charles Lanyon). The many turrets and the elaborate stone staircase at the rear of the building make it worth the visit.

I got an email recently from Paul Quinn, a local from the Ballycastle area who runs regular tours of Rathlin Island for individuals and groups.

We went across to Rathlin a couple of months ago with the family, and I really wish I'd known about Paul back then. He'd probably have advised us to attempt a walking trip without the children!

I have to be honest about what attracted us to The ecos Centre in Ballymena today. First, it was close by (we live in Co. Antrim), second it had lots of open space and some parks for the children to use up some of their seemingly limitless energy, and third, it was free. As a family of five, the price of a day out is always a consideration.

The Ecos Centre is set in "a developing country park where you can have fun exploring the natural world and how we use it". It's an educational resource as well, where you can learn about key environmental issues and how problems can be tackled and experience wildlife at first hand in its natural habitat.

The Old Church at Cushendun is a B1 listed building which dates back to 1840 and was built by Michael Harrison. The Cushendun Building Preservation Trust describes the Old Church as:

The Vikings must really like Antrim, because they just keep coming back for more! Don't worry, nothing was burnt (except the odd burger) or pillaged - this was the third annual Return Of The Vikings.

As usual, the event was held at Loughshore Park in Antrim, a nice little spot on the eastern shore of Lough Neagh. I'll give you a bit more detail about Loughshore Park in a future post.

Each year, CAFRE's Greenmount College plays host to the Greenmount Country Show. The show runs over the entire weekend and is one of the best attended events in Northern Ireland.