Co. Antrim

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.

For a wee taster of the Giant's Causeway and some of the North Antrim coast, check out this video by Dan Lee at Katundu.

The video features some very nice footage of the Causeway, but is let down (slightly!) by an 'interview' with local legend Finn McCool. Although Finn tells us a bit about the history behind the Giant's Causeway, he seems a little bit reluctant!

We have a soft spot for Brookhall Historical Farm - we've visited the farm four times in the last 2-3 years!

Each and every Sunday I read the Observer's Escape supplement and dream about holidays in far flung destinations which I will probably never be able to afford to visit.

Imagine my surprise therefore to find an entry on Rathlin Island included in an article on Europes Secret Islands!

Since the 18th century The Giant's Causeway has often been described as 'The Eighth Wonder Of The World' and once you have visited the site you will quickly see why.

The area consists of an estimated 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns, which were formed during a volcano eruption 60 million years ago.

I recently visited the Round Tower at Armoy in Co. Antrim.

The tower is roughly 1,000 years old, and has an elevated entrance which you reach by stepping on a stone which protrudes from the outside wall. Once inside, you feel like you're at the bottom of a well. Apparently this side doorway would have been set much higher originally, but burials in the surrounding cemetary have raised the ground level around the tower significantly.

Having been a resident of Ballycastle for some 18 years and a frequent visitor ever since, two distinctive sights remind me that I'm home: Knocklayde Mountain - that hulking, brooding giant that stands watch over the town - and Fair Head, the distinctive cliff which beautifully frames the Ballycastle beach to the east. Like locals and tourists alike, I have often admired Fairhead from shore-level. At the weekend, I took a drive to the top of the cliff, parked in the little National Trust car park.

Kinbane Castle (also known as Kenbane, meaning "white headland") is a little-known jewel in the North Coast of County Antrim. A secluded ruin at the bottom of a steep cliff face, the castle commands excellent views of the surrounding coastline with Fair Head to the East and Rathlin Island to the North. Travelling further west will take you past Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge and on to the Giants Causeway.

There is an air of peace and solitude at Kinbane which is difficult to find elsewhere, perhaps because the castle is slightly off the beaten track. It is situated atop a huge limestone outcrop which rises from the rocky shore to 100 feet at its far end.

A Short History Of Bonamargy Friary

It is only appropriate to begin by mentioning that the olde worlde pronunciation of Bonamargy was Bun-na-Mairgie, which means "at the foot of the Margy". The Friary can be found on the road out of Ballycastle, on the Cushendall road. The Friary is situated in the middle of Ballycastle's golf course, and is a stone's throw from the beach. As you pass out of town, you will see the ruins on the right hand side in the midst of Ballycastle's golf course - it's a good job the Friary doesn't have windows!

I picked up an old copy of Historic Monuments of Northern Ireland in Crumlin Library a couple of weeks ago, just to find out a little about some of the notable buildings in Northern Ireland and the people who lived in them and who shaped the province across the centuries.

While not a comprehensive detail of all historic buildings in Northern Ireland, the book mentions several of note. We've travelled around a few locations mentioned in the book, but there is a place in Cushendall that eludes us! We just cannot find the Coshkib Raths!