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Ballycastle
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| Ballycastle has been a significant landing
place since at least the 1400s, when it was known as Port Brittas.
From a castle on the neighboring headland, MacDonnell chieftains watched
their galleys sail into the little port.
Fishing boats operate out of the harbor, and the catch includes Cod, Coley, Herring and Mackerel. During the late spring and summer, Salmon, nosing their was along the coast in search of their particular spawning river, are caught in a net stretched off the mouth of River Margy at the west end of the beach. Ballycastle provides the only regular ferry service to Rathlin Island. It's famous for its natural beauty and seabird colony. Just off the shore of Ballycastle is a turbulence resulting from a billion tons of the Irish Sea, forced by tidal pressure through the 12 mile gap, when it meets a current surging in the opposite direction through the Rathlin Sound. This particular tide rip is called Slough na Morra, the Swallow of the Sea. Ballycastle is famous for a visit from Marconi when he demonstrated his wireless radio signals from Ballycastle to Rahlin Island. |