You should visit Ballycastle Northern Ireland a lovely little seaside town in Northern Ireland.
Ballycastle comes from the Irish words Baile meaning town and Chaistil which meanas castle.It has a population of 5000 inhabitants which grows considerably over the summer months with seaside visitors.It has a special place in my heart as my husband’s mother was born in the town.
The town a popular summer destination has a beach,hotels, bars and restaurants and lovely views across to Rathlin Island (6 miles boat trip away) and across to the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland.
The town is at the northern limit of the scenic Antrim Coast route and in the Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Ballycastle is famous for its Ould Lammas Fair, which is held every year with huge crowds of visitors on the last Monday and Tuesday of August.
Places of interest near the town include:
Fair Head Ballycastle’s most outstanding landmark rising 196 metres (643 ft) out of the bay. From the road nearby a manmade Iron Age island (crannog) can be seen in the middle of a large lake.
Pans Rocks (the remains of an iron salt pan) is at the far end of the beach and still as in the past popular with anglers ( my husband caught his first fish here at 10 years of age.)
Overlooking the harbour there is a monument to Guglielmo Marconi whose employees made the first commercial wireless telegraph transmission in the world between a cottage along the beach(in which my husband’s grandfather lived by coincidence!) and the East Lighthouse on Rathlin Island.
