Antrim coast of Northern Ireland
We are driving to our next destination and yes on the other side of the road. (My first time) We picked up a car at the airport on the outskirts of Belfast, so an easy start. All was well until we hit the streets of Londonderry/Derry with cars parked on both sides and a narrow track between. The locals were far more comfortable with the space than I was as I carefully drove where I didn’t think the car would fit. Then I missed a turn repeatedly and had to go back through the narrowest parts again and again.
Driving through town we could see many of the murals and memorials commemorating the fallen during the Troubles and reminding us that their goals are not yet achieved, be it one side or the other. There was also a small group of people carrying signs. We later learned that we drove through the site of the Bloody Sunday Massacre where 26 protestors were shot by British soldiers in 1972.
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| Double fence on left to keep people separated |
Rose Park B&B had a nice small room waiting for us. Typical for UK but feels even smaller after some of the luxury hotels on the Tauck tour. Across the street is a lovely park full of gardens enjoying the cool wet climate.
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| Carol is wearing a fleece jacket under her raincoat so chilly |
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| Rose Park B&B |
The walled city of Derry - Londonderry
After getting settled in our room, we headed out to explore. Our destination is 1K away down a very steep hillside mostly through a well kept park. Soon we are climbing the steps to the ramparts. At just over 1 mile, it is the only remaining enclosed walled city in Ireland. The 17th century walls are 12 -35 ft wide. It looks out at the Foyle River which provides access to the ocean. We enjoyed the views across the valley floor, reading many of the historical markers and visiting a touristy recreation area.
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| 1 of 7 gates |
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| Views inside and outside the city walls |
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Next up the Guildhall which was rebuilt several times due to fire and a bomb in 1972. It looks similar to a church and has beautiful stain glass windows representing the different guilds of times past. Today, it’s a location for various civic functions including weddings. We visited a museum area, which tells the story of why ruling Ireland was important to the British. It was a struggle over generations, but eventually the British were successful by implementing a Plantation. The term here means Britain brought in colonist and pushed out the Irish. Much like colonists in America pushing out the native Americans. So why name it London - Derry. The crown got the city of London to finance much of the Plantation colony. Catholic Irish reject the name and will refer to this place as Derry. Now you know why the BBC/Netflix show Derry Girls has its name.
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| Guildhall |
We started watching Derry Girls last winter to assist us with the Irish accents. At first we couldn’t understand them speaking and turned on the closed captioning. Being here has helped much more than watching the show, but we are still challenged at times as to what someone said.
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| Famous Mural of the Derry Girls |
The Peace Bridge across the Foyle River opened in 2011 (with assistance from the EU) for cyclist and walkers to improve relations between the mostly Unionist living on the east bank with the Nationalists living city side. It’s anchored on the east bank with a new development of hotels and pubs and open space on the site of the former British Military Base.
MussendenTemple
It’s time to leave Derry. Our first stop has a great view high above the Ocean and was one of several Game of Thrones (GOT) sites we visited. It’s maintained by the UK’s National Trust. ~1780 The Earl Bishop built his 3 story Italian style home and 3 years later he added the Mussenden Temple which is based on the Temple of Vesta in Italy. The home is in ruins, but the Temple and Demesne are in great condition. The inscription by Lucretius on the Temple dome translates, “Tis pleasant, safely to behold from shore the rolling ship, and hear the tempest roar.” The Demesne below was built to raise Dove’s mainly for food in the winter months but also feathers for pillows and the dung was used in the tanning industry and for making gunpowder. [Click here to learn more about the site.]
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| You used to be able to ride a carriage around it |
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| Left Demesne to raise Doves Right exterior walls facing ocean |
The Temple and the beach below were used for locations for Dragon Stone in GOT. Coincidentally we visited another location in Spain last year to shoot scenes for Dragon Stone, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. It illustrates how the show’s creators used Mussenden Temple which was close to home and mixed it with something spectacular in Spain to tell their story. HBO paid a lot of money to accomplish it.
Dunluce Castle
We are heading for the town of Bushmill to visit the distillery but stop along the way for more breath-taking views including one of Dunluce Castle.
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| Dunluce Castle |
Bushmill Distillery
After lunch we headed for our B&B to park the car and walk to Bushmill Distillery for a tour and tasting. We had never had Irish Whiskey before but had enjoyed its relative Scotch while on our trip to Scotland in 2022. Bushmill received a license in 1608 from the crown, not that they weren’t making whiskey before that. Thus, it claims to be the oldest distillery in Ireland. Our tour took us through the various stages of the process. Irish Whiskey doesn’t use the burning of peat to dry the barley in the malting process like many Scotch Whiskeys. I am not a fan of that smokey/peaty flavor that process creates. Our big surprise was the variety of barrels they were using to add flavor to the whiskey as it ages. I’m accustomed to old bourbon barrels, but they were using old sherry, port, and rum barrels. In addition, some of these barrels were made from acacia tree rather than American Oak. They use these barrels to finish the whiskey in the final years creating new flavors for the market.
Our guide had a few good stories to tell:
“An Irish wake’s purpose was to wait to make sure the person wasn’t in a coma from whiskey.”
“Blind Drunk term came to be due to loss of eyesight from bad whiskey”
“Angel's share was the explanation why the whiskey barrels contained less every year as they aged.”
“During WWII the Distillery was closed as US Troops were based on the grounds.” I suspect the angel’s share was larger those years.
At the tasting room, we were seated in front of 5 pours of at least an ounce each. Glad we had something to eat before. Then we are told, there would be a 6th. Oh my. Good news in the hope of purchasing a bottle was our tastes were mainly in agreement with each other, bad news was we liked the expensive brands best. We favored whiskey’s aged primarily in bourbon barrels. The 21-year aged was the best, but the 16 was a more reasonable but still an expensive price. I may look for it at duty free on the way home.
Staying the next few nights at Portcaman B&B in a small apartment. The larger size was very welcome as our last B&B room was very small, still nothing compared to what we stayed at in Africa. Dinner was on the same scale though as the Bushmill Inn’s restaurant lived up to its fantastic reputation.
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| Top right is our B&B |
Giant’s Causeway, UNESCO World Heritage Site
We beat the tourist busses to Giant’s Causeway, a rare geologic basalt rock formation located on the Irish coast. These hexagonal columns rise to different heights all around us. We carefully stepped through the uneven stone to reach the point where it juts out into the sea. We then took our time and enjoyed the wonder of the Irish coast.
Then off to hiking the cliffs along the coast. We first pass through the “Bishops Gate” which is a gap between the very tall basalt columns. Ahead we see others making the accent. Look for the people by the red rock where the trail has been cut into the hillside.
As we climb and we look back at the gate noting how tiny the people are in comparison to the tall rock columns.
At halfway up the hillside, we round the corner to the next cove and see more basalt columns near the top of the cliff. After admiring it, we head for the top and view back towards the direction we came.
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| Basalt columns top center of cliff |
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| The tiny people in the center of the photo are standing where the prior photo was taken. |
Carrick-a-Rede
After a well-earned break, we headed to our next destination, Carrick-a-Rede “The rock in the road”. The inhabitants of the area learned that they could erect nets here to capture Atlantic Salmon as they passed the narrow gap between the shore and a tiny island on their way to the river in which they were born. To accomplish this task beginning in 1755 the fisherman erected a rope bridge each summer. There isn’t any salmon to fish today, but the National Trust has erected a sturdier rope bridge and tells the story of the fisherman to thousands of visitors.
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| The bridge sways and bounces while you try not to think about how far above the water you are. |
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| You can see how high above the water the bridge is |
The ocean is incredibly deep and clear. Some is white sand with black volcanic boulders. You also see fields of seaweed waving in the tide. Then there are the birds. Very large numbers of sea birds are everywhere. Noisy kittiwakes and guillemots have made homes on the cliff faces and spend their day soaring through the incredibly strong updrafts as the north wind strikes the cliffs and carries all upward. I believe it’s raven bill that we see that seems to fly above and below the surface at incredible speed. It’s black and white and makes you think of a flying version of a penguin.
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| Sand to the left and Kelp to the right Kittiwakes flying around everywhere Guillemots nesting |
Near the same car park (parking lot) is Larry Bane Quarry. No longer in use, but its claim to fame is that it’s another GOT filming location. Location for Renley Baratheon’s camp near Storms End in the Stormland.
Dark Hedges
One more GOT filming location is the Dark Hedges which was the location for King’s Road. The Stuart Family created it when they built their estate in 1775 to impress, similar to a southern plantation drive being tree lined with oak trees. It started with 150 beach trees, but many have fallen today. We journeyed there after dinner hoping the sun being low in the sky would give us some great pictures. We did see a bride and groom having their wedding pictures taken.
Fairhead
Our B&B host recommended hiking Fairhead, which turned out to be a wonderful day. This rocky headland has a >100M cliff face that marks the northeastern tip of the Island of Ireland. It is our destination for this morning's hike.
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| Fairhead is our destination for our hike |
We reach our parking spot after a couple miles of single-track road. Then a hike through fields of sheep before we reach the peak. Moving along the top of the cliff is hard work as we are going up and down steep inclines, but the views are worth it. Along the way, we encountered a rock climber, sheep and some interesting flowers. There was also a tiny island in the middle of a small lake. We later learned from our host that the man who farms that land walked into the lake but didn’t sink. It seems there are steppingstones just below the surface. When the village was threatened by Vikings, the townsfolk evacuated to the tiny island.
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| Left is tiny island to avoid raiders Right is how you get across barb wire fences |
Then it’s off to the neighboring village of Ballycastle for a well-deserved break and lunch. After lunch we explore town a bit and I enjoy looking at the boats in the marina.
Kin bane Castle
Another single-track road and we are at a small parking lot overlooking the ocean and Rathlin Island in the distance. There we met a woman and her husband from England who are on holiday exploring all the castles in Northern Ireland. She proclaims that Kin bane Castle is the best, but the 140 steps are a challenge. With that we start on our way. She was correct, while the castle is in ruins the views are fantastic.
The castle was built in the mid 16th century. Below is a picture of an information sign showing what the castle is believed to have looked like with my current day photo underneath.
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| View back towards mainland and the cliffs |
Once on the peninsula we again saw many birds making nests in the cliff side. We also saw seals in the water but couldn’t get the camera out and lens attached fast enough.
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| Guillemots |
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