To the north of Carnlough the shore-hugging Causeway Coastal
Route veers to the west, where it reaches Red Bay. Glenariff, one of the nine “Glens of Antrim”
and known as the “Queen of the Glens”, drops down to the sea here, and there is
a small village by the same name.
Glenariff Forest Park speads over 1,000 acres, with woodlands, lakes,
waterfalls and recreational areas. Just
beyond the neighbouring village of Waterfoot lie the ruins of Red Bay Castle,
built in the 13th century by the Bissett family, self-styled Lords
of the Glens of Antrim. The family’s
descendents, the MacDonells of Antrim, rebuilt the castle in the 16th
century, only for it to be burned to the ground in 1565 by Shane O’Neill of
Tyrone. The MacDonnells rebuilt it again,
but it fell into disrepair and after a further restoration was subsequently
destroyed by Oliver Cromwell during his conquest of Ireland, hence the scant
ruins on view today. So not much to see
here now, but worth swinging by anyway for the wonderful views across to the
Mull of Kintyre.
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| Waterfoot, Co. Antrim, 1990 (6981329372). Via Wikimedia Commons. |
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