We took off from Newcastle decently early this morning, as I knew we would need a lot of time to take in the Antrim Coast. Newcastle has a very modern look to it, they have poured a tonne of money into a promenade, which is used extensively by the locals. As the promenade is right outside our apartment, we had a view of all the people that walked the promenade all day and into the evening. There are also many modern coffee shops and the like, but everything tends to close very early in the off season.
The traffic on the motorway through Belfast was fairly terrible, with quite a few delays and it was slow going. We missed an exit in the numerous roundabouts, but got back on track very easily. After we went passed all of the exits into Belfast, things greatly improved.
We decided to take the scenic coastal route, so we headed to Carrickfergus, which has a rather imposing looking castle. The Anglo-Normans built the castle in the late 1170s to guard the approach to the Belfast Lough.
Carrickfergus Castle
Carrickfergus Harbour
The further north one travels, the ever more beautiful the landscape becomes. The tiny coastal towns are less modern. We needed a tea break, so we pulled over and asked a local where to go, and she sent us to the next town, which was 3 miles down the highway. The place was rustic, and served a standard Irish pot of tea.
The day was absolutely gorgeous with mainly sunny skies and a bit of cloud. The Irish countryside is a palette of greens, so many greens, given the sun and shade and dappled light. We had planned on a walk in the Glenariff, one of the many glens of Antrim. There is a forest park at the head of the glen with some wonderful waterfalls, which were likely even more spectacular due to the recent rainfall.
Ess-Na-Crub - The Fall of the Hooves
Glenariff
Ess-na-Larach - The Fall of the Mare
After we left the Glenariff Forest Park we continued north and took a very narrow, twisty road up and then down to Torr Head. This is a gorgeous setting, where the torr juts out into the Irish Sea. This is the closest point of Ireland to Scotland, the Mull of Kintyre is only 12 miles away. We walked to the top of the torr where there is a ruin of a coastguard station that was built in 1822. The wind was really strong today and we got hammered by the wind at the top of the torr but the views are unbelievable.
Views from Torr Head
Then we headed to Murlough Bay, which is a rocky shoreline with great views as well. There are also large cliffs with bizarre rock formations here. We walked through saturated sheep pasture to get to the shore, when we came back, a trio of sheep were busy licking a rock.
Murlough Bay
It was getting late and we were past due for check-in to our cottage and had no cell signal, so when we reached Ballycastle, I texted our host and she said it was no problem and we should enjoy the sunshine. There were two more tremendous beaches on the very north coast of Northern Ireland, which we drove by, and hope to check out tomorrow.
Our cottage is part of an old farm, and the owners lease out their land to another farmer now. The owner is incredibly laid back and very kind. She had a fireplace all set up for us to light in the sitting room, so after supper we decided to light this fire. It lit up and proceeded to go totally berserk and smoked the place out. We had two smoke detectors buzzing, and we filled the sitting room and kitchen with smoke. After opening a couple of doors to air things out, the smoke abated as it seemed to require more oxygen. It is now doing nicely, but we are one and done with fires.
The wind is fierce tonight but we are in a cozy old cottage with walls that are about two feet thick, judging by the window sills. We are hoping that the weather holds for tomorrow and the wind abates as we want to walk the North Antrim Cliff path without getting blown off.
The scenery up here really is mind blowing, if anyone ever finds themselves in Northern Ireland, the Antrim Coast is the place to explore. We are out of our minds over this place.
The History of Ireland Continues
The English barons held their lands under military tenure, where they were supposed to provide forces for the English king, but since the English kings rarely turned up in Ireland, the barons kept private armies and went out of control. Irish farmers were tossed off the land and the laws which were supposed to apply to the English and the Irish were ignored. The Irish were excluded from the law, they were deemed unfree and had no access to the courts. It was not until 1541, that all subjects were included in the laws.
The hostility and animosity between the English settlers, which are now referred to as Anglo-Irish, and the native Irish went on for hundreds of years. The Black death arrived in 1348, it killed between 35 - 50% of the population. The numbers of Anglo-Irish lords declined and they forged a new identity for themselves; now they were anti English-born and of course anti native Irish. They passed laws in 1366 which forbade all contact between the Irish and the English. Marriage was outlawed, the clergy were to be English, and all the English were not to take on any Irish customs, dress, or speak Irish. Any wonder there would never be any integration.
King Henry VIII became involved in Ireland in 1541, as he was now the King of Ireland, rather than Lord of Ireland. All of the Irish were to be his subjects. Monastic lands were confiscated and given to the English, the Irish accepted institutional change but would not accept change in religious doctrine. Henry’s daughter, Elizabeth, became queen in 1558; she was a Protestant and England was now a Protestant state. The Irish and the Anglo-Irish, now referred to as Old English, were Catholic and much opposed to Elizabeth. They sought assistance from Catholic France and Spain. Loyal and disloyal were now based on religious doctrine, a division that would remain for the next 500 years.
Catholics were excluded and marginalised, while the Protestant minority flourished and held powerful positions. The Old English rebellion of 1579 - 1583 failed. The Irish lords rebelled in 1595, and in 1601, they sought the assistance of Philip of Spain, who sent a force. However, the English blocked the port and the Spanish could not land. By 1603, the Irish lords were crushed, their lands confiscated, and Irish culture was outlawed; this was essentially the end of old Gaelic order and the completion of the conquest of Ireland by the English. In 1607, the Irish lords of Ulster fled Ireland, this is known as the ‘flight of the earls.’
Thus began the colonization of Ulster, in the northeast. Between 1610 and 1640, 10,000 Scots settled in Co Down and Co Antrim, while 30,000 English settled in Ulster. The Irish were marginalised to such an extent that they developed a severe hatred for the new settlers. The Irish Parliament did not sit regularly, only when parliamentary approval was required. The Old English, who were Catholic, had a majority of seats until James I created new constituencies, which gave the majority to the new English Protestants.
The Irish were subject to high rents on marginal land, their share of land ownership had declined over the years and they were forced to pay for Protestant churches even though they were Catholic. All of these factors led to intense levels of hatred and resentment. In 1641, the Irish rebelled, they planned the uprising to force King Charles and the parliament in England to stop interfering in Ireland. However, the rebellion transformed into an uprising by the people and it exploded into a violent slaughter of English and Scottish settlers.
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