Driving directly from Derry to Belfast takes just over an hour on the major highways. We are going to drive the long way around on the Causeway Coastal Route. With so many places to see and things to do, it will take us two days to make the trip!
Wild Atlantic Way views at Magheracross viewpoint
Dunluce Castle is a ruined Norman medieval castle. It stands on a basalt outcrop and is attached to the mainland by a wooden bridge.
The castle was originally occupied by the MacQuillan family and later the MacDonalds. It was besieged by the British in the 16th C before a peace treaty was signed.
Part of the craggy promontory broke off in a storm taking the kitchen of the castle with it and killing the cooking staff. Their screams can be heard on foggy and stormy days! Luckily today is more or less sunny!
The Old Bushmills Distillery is one of the oldest distilleries in the world, having been granted a license to distill in 1608. Their motto reads ‘We’ve been here for 400 years and don’t plan on leaving soon”.
The current distillery was built in 1784, was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1885 and has been in constant operation since then.
They offered a nice tour of their facility with (of course) some whiskey tasting at the end.
The Giant’s Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns at the edge of the shore. The World Heritage Site is the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption between 50-60 million years ago during the Paleocene Epoch.
There are, of course, several legends explaining the genesis of the causeway: the giant, Finn MacCool built a series of stepping stones in order to walk to Scotland to do battle with his counterpart, Benandonner. But construction was tiring, so when Benandonner came striding over the sea, the exhausted MacCool fell back on trickery. He disguised himself as a baby and lay in a giant cot. When Benandonner saw the size of MacCool’s ‘baby’ he scurried back to Scotland, tearing up the causeway as he fled.
Another story says Mac Cool built it in order to bring back a giant fair maiden for his bride.
Most of the columns are hexagonal although some have 4, 5, 7 or 8 sides.
The ruin of Dunseverick Castle was first fortified by an ancient chieftain, Sobhairce, in the 5th C. In the 7th C the castle was occupied by the Dál Riada, an extended tribal group with strong maritime connections between Ireland and western Scotland. It later became home the Earls of Ulster between 1250–1350, and then a stronghold of the O’Cahan’s and later the MacDonnells from 1560.
It was said that Saint Patrick once visited Dunseverick Castle where he baptized Olcán, a local man, who later became a Bishop of Ireland.
Not much is left of the castle, but the ruin is very pretty!
Just before checking into our B&B for the night, we made a quick stop at the pier in Ballycastle.
Our lovely host at the Glass Island B&B provided a pre-dinner bubbly in honour of our anniversary!
There are only a handful of restaurants in Ballycastle, so on Sharon’s suggestion we booked dinner at the Anzac Pub back by email back in December. Upon arriving tonight, though, our booking was nowhere to be found and they were full. Luckily, Kris keeps all the confirmation emails. After a bit of confusion they found us a table. It was hard for Peter the owner to say no when the email was from him. All turned out well and we ended up having a great meal and great chat as Peter had spent time in BC in his youth. He called us Mr and Mrs Vancouver all night!
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