Carrickfergus Castle, Torr Scenic drive, Carrick-a-Rede, Giants Causeway and...

The morning started out rainy so a drive out onto the Torr Head was a tentative plan. It was still raining when we got to Carrickfergus Castle but we paid our money and wandered around anyway. We were in Northern Ireland and not about to let a little rain deter us from our castle ruins.

From wikipedia: "Carrickfergus was built by John de Courcy in 1177 as his headquarters, after he conquered eastern Ulster in 1177 and ruled as a petty king until 1204, when he was ousted by another Norman adventurer, Hugh de Lacy. Initially de Courcy built the inner ward, a small bailey at the end of the promontory with a high polygonal curtain wall and east gate. It had a number of buildings, including the great hall. From its strategic position on a rocky promontory, originally almost surrounded by sea, the castle commanded Carrickfergus Bay (later known as Belfast Lough), and the land approaches into the walled town that developed beneath its shadows."

We plotted our next stop into Google maps and set off for Carrick-a-Rede. On the way we noticed a castle and an adorable village associated with it. We pulled into the town which was called Glenarm. We parked and got out of the car and started walking around in the almost empty little village — it's pretty much off the tourist grid — and discovered a stone bridge. We walked across and were taken to what looked like the entrance to a castle.

The Barbican Gate Lodge

As we stood in front of it the door opened and a woman appeared. We asked her if we could come in and she said no it was a B&B and only guests could come in. We expressed how beautiful we thought it was and she started telling us about how it had become a B&B and it is currently leased by the Irish Landmark Trust. It was originally built in 1825 by Anne Catherine, Countess of Antrim.

She then told us that, on second thought there was an empty room and she would take us through so we could see it.

The room is a true castle tower with narrow circular stone staircase but it has been modernized inside a bit with a bathroom,  kitchen facilities, running water and electricity. Each room — bathroom, sitting room, bedroom, etc. — is on it's own floor in the tower. The views are gorgeous.

Glenarm Castle

When we exited the castle gate she continued to tell the history of the Barbican, castle gardens and Glenarm Castle. We walked down a dirt road to stand in front of the gorgeous Glenarm Castle. The castle is the home of Randal, Viscount Dunluce, son of the 14th Earl of Antrim, his wife Aurora, their son Alexander and daughter Helena. It is not open to the public.

However the walled gardens are and we decided to have lunch at the Tea Room and visit the gardens.

Walled Garden

We had sandwiches at the Tea Room and then paid our admission to the gardens. They are truly spectacular and if you are in that area don't miss them.

When we finished enjoying the gardens we got back in our car and continued in the direction of carrick-a-rede. The sun had broken through so we decided we should take the Torr scenic drive.
We turned onto the drive at Cushendun. It's a one lane minor road and as such can be dangerous. We loved it, the road goes around tight corners and up steep hills than down the other side with fabulous views of old cottages, ruins, green hills, blue ocean, wildflowers and plenty of sheep dotting white against all that green. We stopped several times to take photos but getting out of the car wasn't as pleasant as staying in it. The wind was blowing at least 40 mph.

Herding sheep on Torr Scenic Drive

At one point we came around a turn and there were several sheep in the road, 2 adults and 2 babies. We slowly followed them until they ran into the open gate a short way down the road.

Torr Scenic Drive

The views were just spectacular, not like anything I've ever seen before.

We continued on to Ballycastle, a beautiful little fishing village that is now pretty popular with tourists. In 1898 Guglielmo Marconi tested his wireless system between here and the Rathlin Island Lighthouse. Rathlin Island is the only populated island in Northern Ireland.

Sheep painted pink in honor of the Giro d'Italia

When we got to the fork where the more main road went off toward the Carrick-a-Rede and Giants Causeway we stopped to take a couple of photos of the pink sheep. They had been painted pink in honor of the Giro d'Italia bicycle race.

We continued on toward the bridge near the small town of Ballintoy. By the time we got to the bridge the wind had calmed a bit from the 40 mph out on the Torr and the sky was still brilliant blue.
 We pulled into the parking lot and bought our tickets. There is a walk along a trail for about 2 km before you get to the rope bridge. It takes you along the cliff where you look down into turquoise blue water with wildflowers jutting out from between the rocks. Birds, mostly Seagulls, nest on the cliffs in droves. You continue down some flat rock steps that lead you to the metal staircase that leads to the bridge. There is a person at the top of the stairs who meters how many people are on the bridge at any one time and she also keeps people moving since everyone wants to stop on the bridge and have their picture taken.

Carrick-a-Rede

No one has ever fallen from the bridge but a number of people have gotten too scared to come back across the bridge and had to be talked back or helped in some other way. We didn't find it to be that scary. I'm pretty sure you couldn't fall off unless you wanted to. It is incredibly beautiful from the bridge and from the island of Carrick on the other side.

We hiked back up the return trail which takes a slightly different route and brings you to a spot above and across from the bridge, where I took this picture. 

We got back to the car and continued on to the Giants Causeway. We wound around the entry road until we came to a large parking lot and a gentleman who pointed us in the direction of the Visitor's Center where we could buy our tickets and collect our headphones.

Giants Causeway

There is a short walk down to the Causeway itself where you can scramble around on the basalt columns. The way there is also very pretty and worth paying attention to. We ran out of time and had to return before we could walk the entire trail.

We continued on to Dunluce castle which is just a short distance away. Unfortunately it was closed but you could still walk down the trail and get some nice views of the castle and the area around it. 

In 1639 the entire kitchen area fell into the sea killing all but one of the kitchen staff, who happened to be sitting in a back corner of the kitchen. The wife of the owner and all the rest of the staff moved out immediately after that and refused to go back. It's been vacant ever since. 

We took a few pictures and headed off to Bushmill to visit the Bushmills Distillery. Well dang, it was also closed.

It was getting very late by then and we decided to head back to Templepatrick and the Templeton Hotel for dinner. We were very lucky, this being Sunday they were very close to closing, in fact we got our dinner and watched the staff do cleanup as we ate. It was another very good dinner and I was able to get a shot of Bushmills Irish Whiskey, which by-the-way is very good.

Dunluce castle