Antrim, 16 m. from Belfast, 84 m. from Dublin.—On the banks of the Six-mile Water, near its confluence with Lough Neagh, see the Castle, a seat of the Massarene family. 2 m. W. ruins of Shane's Castle; near it, the field where a furious battle was fought in the late rebellion, in which Lord O'Neil fell by the hand of ingratitude; round tower. This ancient Castle has lately become a mass of ruins, in consequence of a most destructive fire; yet it is still worth visiting, being beautifully seated on the banks of Lough Neagh, facing the S.W. the waters of which formerly washed its walls, but were some years ago fenced off by an embankment, on which was erected a handsome green-house. Nothing can be more majestic than the view from the Castle of the vast expanse of water, and the neighbouring banks considerably enriched with trees and verdure, through which are many charming walks and rides. The demesne and park are of great extent, through which a fine stream runs, taking its rise from a small lake 10 m. distant. Near the small lake is an elegant cottage called Remon Lodge, originally fitted up for retirement and shooting-parties, shaded with large venerable trees, and altogether a delightful sequestered spot.
Ballinderry, 14 m. S.W. of Belfast.—Neat village. Good station for Lough Neagh; ruins of Portmore Castle. 3 m. N. in the Lough, Ram's Island with a round tower.
Ballycastle, 47 m. N. from Belfast.—Improving sea-port town, with a Colliery. Ruins of the old Castle; Abbey; and Gobbin's Heir, 1 m. S.E. See the Coal-pits and Kelp-works: also the ancient Coal-mine or Gallery lately discovered, supposed to be Danish. Chalybeate Spa. Danish Raths. Romantic scenery round the cliffs, with Raghery Island 6 m. N. in the distant horizon, presenting to the eye of taste, in a fine evening, a singular prospect, with its chalky cliffs crowned by a venerable covering of brown rock, broken into beautiful and picturesque variety by the turbulent ocean. On the road to Portrush a singular little fishing rock, always an object of interest to tourists, called Carrick-a-Rede; connected to the main land by an extraordinary flying bridge over an abrupt and romantic chasm 60 feet in breadth. See also the White Rocks about 1 m. E. from Port Rush, well worth examining, with a beautiful calcareous faÇade extending about ½ a m., capriciously hollowed into a vast number of magnificent caves of various sizes. Also the cliffs of Craigmillar. 5 m. S. Ardmoy village, with neat Ch. and curious round tower: on the road on the right, ruins of an old Castle. See Knocklede, recently a volcano, and Kinfane Castle.
Ballymena, 8 m. N. of Antrim.—See Gilgorm Castle, and the Moravian settlement at Grace-hill. Slemish mountain, an interesting object. 5 m. N. is Clough, a small neat village. See the Ch., plain but handsome, with ruins of two Castles.
Ballymony, 23 m. N. from Antrim.—Thriving village by linen manufacture. 4 m. N. village of Dervock, with the beautiful seats of Belleisle and Cloverhill. 6 m. E. is Lough Guill. See Ch., and Lissanoure Castle on the banks of the lake, a most romantic mansion and grounds.
Belfast, 84 m. N. from Dublin.—Flourishing commercial town at head of Carrickfergus Bay. Elegant Ch. and Chapel-of-ease. House of Industry. White and brown Linen-Halls. Academical Institution. Bridge of 21 arches over Lagan, with romantic prospect of the bay and surrounding hills. Exchange and Assembly Rooms. Various charitable Institutions. Philosophical and Musical Societies; the latter for revival of the Harp. Quays and Docks. Glass-houses and Iron-founderies. 3 m. N. the Cave-hill, with caves and romantic scenery, and a most extensive prospect from its summit. Delightful ride towards Carrickfergus, with numerous seats and villas; several Danish raths, and the ruins of White Abbey. 5 m. S.E. of Belfast, near Ballydrain, is the Giant's Ring, an extensive circular earthen mound 2256 feet in circumference, with a Druidical Cromlech in the centre. Near it Collin and Devis mountains, with ancient caves called the "Picts," and fine view of Lough Neagh: across the Lagan 3 m. is the elegant seat of Belvoir.
Bengore Head,—the most northern extremity of the island, and an object in the tour to Giant's Causeway, which it much resembles.
Bush Mills, 8 m. N.E. from Coleraine.—The nearest accommodation for the Giant's Causeway. 3 m. N.E. Ruins of Dunluce Castle on a romantic cliff. 3½ m. N.W. the seat of ancient Irish chieftains, and surrounded by the scenery of Ossian's first poem. Take a boat for view of the coast.
Carrickfergus, 8 m. N.E. of Belfast, the county and assize town.—Ancient Castle built by Hugh Lacy, Earl of Ulster, in 1178. Ch. with monuments of the Donnegall family. New Court-house and Gaol. Some remains of an ancient monastery: ancient walls and pier where K. William landed. Romantic scenery towards the N.E. and Island Magee, including Castle Dobbs, and Kilroot where Thurot landed. 3 m. N.W. ruins of Abbey at Monks Town, where tradition points out the grave of King Fergus.
Cushendun, 10 m. from Glenarm.—A small village in a romantic bay; grotesque caves, and a caverned rock on which Red Castle stands: it presents several specimens of whyn dykes to the geologist, containing veins of calcareous spar mixed with coarse-grained basaltes. Between it and Glenarm, about half way, rises the sharp promontory of Garron Point, exhibiting a beautifully diversified trapose outline, and projecting far into the sea, on a limestone base wrought into caverns by the restless surge. A little N. of the point is the romantic vale of Glenariff, containing red sandstone, porphyry intermixed with veins of jasper, and a curious breccia or pudding-stone; but, to the sentimental traveller it is even more interesting; for here he may conceive himself in the genuine country of Ossian, as nearly every romantic object in the vicinity bears a name connected with that hero.
Dunluce Castle, 5 m. W. of Bushmills.—The most striking ruin on the coast; on an isolated, abrupt rock, perforated by the waves which have formed under it a very spacious cavern. The approach to it is along a narrow wall; but it well repays the risk; its dark basaltic walls marked with the mellow tints of time, in some places forming a perpendicular line with the rock on which it stands, whilst its commanding situation, its numerous gables and turrets, (resembling the ruins of a village destroyed by fire,) excite a high idea of its former magnificence, and a feeling of regret for its lost splendour. It was built probably by De Courcey, afterwards enlarged by native chieftains, and finally by the Macdonnels in the time of Elizabeth. Though in total ruin, a particular chamber is said to be haunted, and to be the favourite abode of Mave Roe, a Banshee or such fictitious personage, who sweeps it every night; but, as Dr. Drummond observes, the sweeping winds that rush through that and the other desolate apartments, will sufficiently account for the cleanness of the room without the aid of supernatural agency.
Fairhead or Benmore, 4 m. N.E. of Ballycastle.—Is a most interesting object, towering magnificently with its massive columns of basaltes, forming a line of coast the most fantastically beautiful that imagination can conceive. It is strongly characterized by the savage wildness of its cliffs, at whose foot the ocean rages with uncommon fury. Scarce a single mark of vegetation has yet crept over the hard rock to diversify its colour, but one uniform grayness pervades its scenery, contrasting exquisitely with Bengore, about 9 m. distant to the W. The tourist must visit the Fhirleath or Gray Man's Path, a deep chasm dividing the solitary promontory in twain, with its solid walls of rude and threatening columns upwards of 200 feet in perpendicular abruptness.Giant's Causeway, 8 m. W. from Ballycastle, and about 3 m. N. of Bushmills (the general station for tourists).—Is an object not to be described in small limits, being a most singular geological curiosity and one of Nature's most stupendous productions. Dr. Drummond briefly states it to consist of three moles, composed of basaltic columns projecting into the sea from the middle of the semicircular bay of Port Noffer; the longest of which, called the Grand Causeway, extends in a sloping direction from the base of the cliff about 300 feet, when it is lost in the ocean. The pillars of which the Causeway consists have been estimated at 30000; but that is too small a calculation. These are of different dimensions; 15 to 36 feet in height, and from 15 to 26 inches in diameter, chiefly pentagonal or hexagonal; each consists of joints or pieces concave and convex alternately at the ends. The pillars are a species of basaltes and kind of close grit, vitrifiable, of a dusky hue, contrasting finally with the surrounding verdant scenery, and continued, with interruptions, two miles along the precipitous shore. On the eastern side the Giant's Loom, a colonnade of 36 feet in height; and on the opposite cliff may be seen the Organ, so called from the resemblance to that instrument in the group of columns: also the Giant's Well, Chair, and Theatre, with the King and Parliament. Other objects of curiosity are,—the large rounded masses of irregularly prismatic basalt between the causeways, and the distinct globular concretions at Port Coon, a little to the westward: the curious whyn dyke at the head of the grand causeway: the generally romantic scenery of Port Noffer: then the cave of Port Coon, celebrated for its fine echo, continually resounding to the dash of the waves: the Cave of Dunkerry between Port Coon and the Bushfoot Strand, accessible only from the ocean, between two mural ridges of jet-black rock, with its lofty dome and sides overspread with a covering of green confervÆ, suggesting the idea that it might have been scooped out of an emerald; a crimson zone of marine plants, five or six feet in breadth, surrounds and adorns it; and its extent has never yet been ascertained, its sides contracting into a narrow cleft where no boat can penetrate, but where the waves are heard rolling to a considerable distance.
Glenarm, 8 m. N. of Larne.—Castle of the Countess of Antrim, still venerable and magnificent, and on the site of an ancient Abbey: from the front is seen the Glen or Great Park 13 m. in circuit; extremely romantic and beautiful; consisting of wood and broken rock, with several waterfalls and salmon-leaps formed by a large serpentine river winding through the grounds, whilst its banks are adorned with various evergreens; myrtles, and the arbutus or strawberry-tree almost continually in blossom. From the park are fine views of the sea; a distant prospect of the Abbey in ruins, and the scenery considerably enriched by the singular appearance of the adjacent mountains, which are cultivated in corn to their very summits. In its vicinity are many rude antiquities, supposed to be of Danish origin.
See the Glens on the borders of Red Bay, with the ruins of Red Castle, 7 m. N. of Glenarm. The scenery around is very romantic, the village being secluded in a glen, where the limestone shores finely contrast with the azure ocean. To the northward is the site of Dunmall, a fortress where, tradition says, all the rent of Ireland was once paid; but its only memorials are a mound and fosse with the fragments of a wall. Beyond Garron Point see the curious grotesque rock called Clough-i-stookin, of chalky whiteness, bearing a striking resemblance to a female of gigantic stature: near it the ruins of a Castle on a caverned cliff, the echoes in which are curious: also Torr Point. On the beach near Glynn the Anomia Gryphus and the VertebrÆ pentacrinites are found in abundance in a blue lime. To the N. of it stand the lofty and precipitous cliffs of Agnew's Hill, said to be the loftiest hill in the county. The vicinity of this romantic spot has been well described by Mr. Wakefield, who, on descending the hill to Cushendall, beholding on the one hand a cultivated mountain, and on the other a vale of rich land in a high state of tillage, declares that upon the whole a more extended and more delightful prospect of hill and dale intermixed in charming variety, is not often to be seen. He adds, that from Cushendall to Glenarm, passing Red Bay and coasting along the ocean, the whole way, the road exhibits the most romantic and beautiful scenery. On the one hand magnificent and widely extended views of the ocean, which on this coast rolls its swelling waves towards the shore with a peculiar and dangerous rapidity; and on the other, rocky mountains of considerable height, whose hanging cliffs, as the road extends partly up their sides, seem to threaten the traveller with destruction; and which in some places are thickly clothed with woods, through the openings between which the eye is sometimes surprised with the sight of a village as the road winds round the spacious bays and jutting promontories.
Lough Neagh is the largest lake of fresh water in Europe, with the exception of Ladoga, Onega, and Geneva, being 20 m. by 12; and the country round it being level, the furthest shores cannot be distinguished from any part of its circumference; so that it resembles an ocean, particularly in stormy weather, when the waves break suddenly and are dangerous for boats. See Ram Island with its Round Tower: inquire for Gems, Crystals, and Petrifactions. The ride from Belfast, of about 16 m. is delightful; and nothing can be finer than the view bursting on the tourist from the top of Mount Devis, whether he contemplates Lough Neagh, or turns round to admire the extensive prospect over the County Down and Irish Channel, towards the Isle of Man, and even the distant mountains of Wales. Though this extensive inland sea receives no less than eight rivers, yet the only outlet to the whole collected mass of water is on the N.W. extremity, at Toom, whence passing through a small lake, Lough Beg, it forms the river Bann, which runs into the sea at Coleraine. The great disproportion between the outlet and the influx has given rise to a conjecture of subterraneous passages; but not the smallest indication of such a phenomenon has yet been discovered,—so that the great means of reduction must be by exhalation: to this it may be added, that in the dry season the efflux is so trifling as to be waded at Toom, where it is less than knee-deep; whilst on the other hand, in the wet season, most of the rivers being mountainous, the influx is so sudden and so greatly extensive, that 10,000 acres are often covered, which were dry in summer. The geologist may also notice the well-authenticated fact that, the Lough often interrupts its own course to the sea, by the quantities of sand and gravel which it deposits in the channel: all those impediments are frequently accelerated, though sometimes removed, by the casual direction and force of the winds: hence the dilatation and contraction have not been as yet reduced to any role; but the fact is certain that its strongest tendency is towards expansion, its actual encroachments being marked and known; for in one place it has encompassed one Ch., (Ballyscullen) drowned great part of the parish, and still seems gaining on the land. It must be remembered that this Lough is perhaps the shallowest piece of water in the world of such an extent, being no where deeper than 11 fathoms. The trade carried on upon the Lough has of late years received considerable additions from three navigable canals; one of which leads to Newry, where a river runs into the sea at Carlingford; the second, through Lisburn, gains the sea at Belfast; and the third takes a direction westerly, for inland purposes. In stormy weather the waves break so short and dash with such violence against the shoals at the foot of Shane's Castle, that the spray is said often to have dashed into the highest windows. In consequence of this, shipwrecks of the craft are not unfrequent.
Pleaskin.—A Cape a little to the E. of Giant's Causeway; the most striking of all the semicircular precipices on this range of coast, in the opinion of Dr. Drummond and the ingenious but unfortunate Dr. Hamilton. In the sixteen different strata of which it is composed, beauty and sublimity are wonderfully blended and harmonised. Over a dark and rugged base fringed with incessant foam it lifts its sides adorned with various tints of green gray lichen, and vermilion rock, with a rapid declivity to about half its elevation, and thence becomes perpendicular. On a stratum of red ochre at the elevation of 200 feet, stands a magnificent gallery of basaltic columns, 44 feet in height, with others equally romantic; like a theatre of Nature harmoniously arranged, rock upon rock, gallery upon gallery, so magnificent, so solitary, and facing the wide Atlantic, as if formed for the temple of "spirits from the vasty deep!"
Larne, 8 m. N. from Carrickfergus,—worth notice for the fine scenery round its harbour and vicinity. Redhall; Olderfleet, and various ancient Castles in ruins; several Cromlechs on the E. side of Brown's Bay, where is also the Giant's Cradle, a large stone so nicely balanced that a small force will put it in motion, though the utmost strength of many men cannot overturn it. See Ballygelly Promontory 3 m. with masses of prismatic basalt, where the pillars first commence: to the W. ruins of Cairn Castle on an insulated rock; and the Salagh Braes.
Lisburne, 7 m. S.S.W. from Belfast.—Handsome, populous, and extensive, on the Lagan. Handsome Ch.; large Market-house; several neat Sectarian Chapels. Linen, diaper, and damask manufactories. 2 m. N.E. Lambeg with curious damask-works, and numerous bleach-greens. Near Lambeg numerous villas; Drum House and Ch.; Ballydrain, with lake and grounds; and the Giant's Ring, with round tower.
Randalstown, 88 m. from Dublin, 3 m. N.W. from Antrim.—A thriving town on the river Main. See Market-house and Assembly-rooms; also the scenery of Lough Neagh 2 m. distant. 3½ m. N. is Kells, a pleasant village, with ruins of an ancient Ch.; 3 m. E. of which, the dilapidated village, once the city of Connor and still an episcopal see united to Down. See ruins of the Cathedral.
Rathlin, or Raghery, a small island N. of Ballycastle.—See Doon Point; also the Tumulus on a plain in the centre, with stone coffins. The ruins of Bruce's Castle. Here also are seen optical aËrial illusions, like the fata morgana in the Straits of Messina.
Temple Patrick, 10 m. N.W. from Belfast.—Road to Antrim, on which route the tourist may enjoy some fine mountain scenery, including the Bay of Carrickfergus, backed by the majestic mountains of Mourne. Close to the village see Castle Upton, the castellated mansion of Lord Templetown, with handsome park and mausoleum. 4 m. S.E. is the rough fort, an ancient memorial of uncertain origin, but partly Danish, perhaps partly Druidical; with wild scenery in its vicinity; and on the road to Belfast is a complete chain of Danish raths.
