Ballycastle, County Antrim

At the time of the 2011 Census the population of Ballycastle was 5,237.[6] Of these:

• 20.2% were aged under 16 years and 17.5% were aged 65 and over
• 47.5% of the population were male and 52.5% were female
• 77.1% were from a Catholic and 19.0% were from a Protestant or other Christian background
• 7.1% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

The town is located within The Glens district electoral area (DEA) of the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.[8] In the 2019 Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council election, the residents of this DEA elected 2 Sinn Fein, 1 SDLP, 1 UUP and 1 Independent representatives to the council.

• Fair Head, Ballycastle's headland rises 196 metres (643 ft) out of the bay. Goats roam the rocks beneath the cliff tops, where a walkway called 'The Gray Man's Path' leads to the top. A dominant feature of the cliff top is a man-made Iron Age island or crannog in the middle of a large lake.[9]
• Knocklayde, a heather-covered mountain with a height of 1,695 feet, is crowned by Carn na Truagh (the cairn of sorrow), and has views over Ballycastle, Rathlin Island, Fair Head, and Scotland.[10]
• Glentaisie, the most northerly of the Nine Glens of Antrim, lies at the foot of Knocklayde mountain. It is named after the Princess Taisie, the daughter of King Dorm of Rathlin Island. According to legend, Taisie, renowned for her great beauty, was betrothed to Congal, heir to the Kingdom of Ireland. The king of Norway also sought her hand in marriage, and when he arrived to claim his bride, her wedding celebrations to Congal had begun. The king and his army tried to capture Taisie, but in the subsequent battle he was killed, and his army fled leaderless and empty-handed.
• The Carey, Glenshesk and Tow Rivers flow down from the glens into the Margy River. It then flows into the Moyle Sea at the start of the Strand.[11]
• The Strand's Ballycastle Beach is designated a Blue Flag beach.
• Pans Rocks, which are the remains of an iron salt pan lying at the far end of Ballycastle Beach, jut out into the sea and are a popular spot for fishing.

The Marconi memorial

• The Devils Churn, lying just beyond Pans Rocks, has steps carved into the stone leading to an underwater tunnel.
• Clare Park on Clare Road, was an estate owned by the then-local landed gentry, the McGildownys. The 17th-century house has been pulled down but it was set in a site high up on the Antrim coast.
• A cycling route runs from Ballycastle to Cushendun, by way of Torr Head, from which Moyle (the North Channel) can be seen. Also used for inshore sea fishing, Torr Head has a coastguard station, which was built on and out of the remains of Dunvarragh, the fort of Barach.
• The Corrymeela Community (a Christian organisation promoting peace and reconciliation, founded in 1965) is based at Corrymeela, just outside Ballycastle.
• Overlooking the harbour, there is a monument to Guglielmo Marconi whose employees made the world's first commercial wireless telegraph transmission, between Ballycastle and the East Lighthouse on Rathlin Island.

Church of the Holy Trinity

• St Patrick's and St Brigid's Church is a Catholic Church located on Moyle Road. This church was designed by Fr. Jeremiah McAuley who also designed St. Peter's Cathedral, Belfast. It was erected in 1870. An octogonal spire was added in 1898 and there were further alterations in 1993. The spire was used as a mast by Marconi to send the first radio broadcast to Rathlin Island in 1898.[12]
• Holy Trinity Parish Church is a Church of Ireland church in The Diamond, Ballycastle's main square. Like the rest of The Diamond, the church is grade 'A' listed. Built by Colonel Hugh Boyd, who bore the total cost, the church was completed in 1756 and is popularly known as Boyd's Church. It was built in Graeco-Italian style with an apse-shaped chancel, and an octagonal spire about 100 feet high. It was effectively a chapel for the Boyd family and its estate for many years. The remains of many Boyd descendants are in the vaults below - although it was always subject to Episcopal jurisdiction. It was given to the Church of Ireland in about 1950. The church is open every day from 9am-5pm.
• Bonamargy Friary is off the Cushendall Road on the approach to Ballycastle and is a late Franciscan foundation established in 1485 by Rory MacQuillan. Locked vaults hold the remains of the celebrated chieftain, Sorley Boy MacDonnell, and several of the Earls of Antrim.
• Kinbane Castle is on a headland projecting into the sea, about 3 miles (5 km) from Ballycastle on the road to Ballintoy. Originally a two-storey building, it was built in 1547 by Colla MacDonnell, who died within its walls in 1558.
• The Ballycastle Presbyterian Church located in Castle Street has a distinctive round tower.[13]

Rathlin Island Ferry, Ballycastle Harbour

Bus services in Ballycastle are operated by Translink.

A ferry, currently operated by the Rathlin Island Ferry Company, runs between the town and Rathlin Island as part of a lifeline service. The ferry service to the island was formerly operated by Caledonian MacBrayne. Ferries formerly sailed between Ballycastle and Campbeltown in Scotland, but the service was suspended in June 2002. A passenger ferry service to Campbeltown, and Port Ellen on Islay, operated by Kintyre Express, now runs seven days during summer months and on Mondays and Fridays during winter months.[14]

Ballycastle railway station opened on 18 October 1880, but was closed on 3 July 1950. It was on the Ballycastle Railway, a narrow gauge railway which ran 17 miles connecting Ballycastle to Ballymoney station, on the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR), later Northern Counties Committee (NCC) and now part of Northern Ireland Railways.

Waves in Ballycastle; Scotland can be seen in the background

There were several incidents of what came to be known as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, including:

• Loyalist paramilitaries left a car bomb outside the Roman Catholic church (St. Patrick's & St. Brigid's) in the town on 26 August 1973. It was timed to explode as massgoers left the church. But the service ran late, and the bomb detonated when the congregation were still inside the church, avoiding large-scale loss of life. 50 people were injured, 3 of them seriously.[15]
• On 19 June 1979 the Irish Republican Army bombed five hotels in different seaside towns in Northern Ireland, including Ballycastle's Marine Hotel. William Whitten, a 65-year-old Protestant hotel guest, was seriously injured in the blast; he died three weeks later.[16][17]
• Spence McGarry (46), an off duty member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), was killed when a Provisional Irish Republican Army booby trap bomb attached to his car exploded in Castle Street car park, Ballycastle on 6 April 1991.[18] Gerard Butler was convicted in 1993 for the attack, and sentenced to 22 years in prison.[19]
• In 2001, there was an attempt at mass murder by the Red Hand Defenders when a car bomb was left in Castle Street during the annual Lammas Fair.[20]

In the past, there has been unrest during Orange Order parades in the town. In 2001, there was serious public disorder at the 12 July parade. As a result of this, the Silver Plains flute band, from nearby Moyarget, was banned from marching in the town due to allegations of sectarian conduct and paramilitary trappings.[21]

As with the rest of Ireland, Ballycastle experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest official Met Office weather station for which online records are available is at Ballypatrick Forest,[22] about four miles east-southeast of Ballypatrick.

Sports of local interest include tennis, bowling (Mary Street), hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, (Whitehall/Leyland Road), soccer, golf, quidditch and skateboarding.There is additionally a local pool league between the various pubs in the town.

• Market Houses in Northern Ireland
• List of localities in Northern Ireland by population