Carrickfergus Castle and the north Antrim coast

Steeped in over 800 years of history, Carrickfergus Castle has survived attacks by Scots, Irish, English and French and even served as an air raid shelter for the people of Carrickfergus during WWII.  Built by John de Courey soon after his 1177 invasion of Ulster,  the massive walls of the outer ward were completed in 1242, and the red-brick gun ports were added in the 16th century.  The castle overlooks the harbour where William of Orange landed in June 1690, on his way to the Battle of the Boyne.

 The harbour at the entrance to Belfast Lough

‘King Billy’

Looking from the castle out to Carrickfergus town centre

After leaving the castle I headed out on the Causeway Coastal Route - probably one of the most scenic coastal drives I’ve ever done!  Hugging the Atlantic coast from Belfast to Derry~Londonderry, it takes in some of Ireland’s most beautiful scenery!  And as you can see from the photos, yes there was rain at some point during the day, but magnificently there was also some times with sun and blue sky.  It was magical!

Ferry from Cairnryan, Scotland

Ballygally

Glenarm harbour

Glenarm is the oldest village in the Glens of Antrim.  The village is now a Conservation Area, and its Main Street leads directly to Glenarm Forest, from which you can see Glenarm Castle on the far bank of the Glenarm River which runs through the village to the sea.

Carnlough has a picturesque harbour on the shores of Carnlough Bay.

Ballycastle was the destination for the end of today, but just before getting there I took a small detour off the Antrim Coast road onto the Torr Head Scenic Road.  I didn’t have time to drive all around this beautiful peninsula and boy am I ever glad I took the detour I did!

There’s no doubt about it - Ireland is GREEN!

It really does happen - a traffic hazard in Northern Ireland

 And these archways through the rock are pretty spectacular too!