Attraction in County Antrim

The Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge on the north Antrim coast near Ballintoy is one of the most popular visitor attractions in Northern Ireland, a dramatic rope bridge spanning a 20-metre chasm between the mainland cliff and the small rocky island of Carrick-a-Rede, suspended 30 metres above the crashing sea below. The bridge, now managed by the National Trust, was originally erected annually by salmon fishermen who used the island as a base for their nets during the summer salmon season, the bridge providing a crossing that was practical for experienced fishermen but genuinely alarming for those less accustomed to swinging bridges over significant drops. The current bridge is a much more substantial structure than the original fishermen's rope bridge, which consisted of a single handrail and was designed more for the fishermen's convenience than the comfort of the casual visitor. The modern version provides a safe crossing with mesh sides that prevents the most extreme vertigo while still communicating the exposure of the situation, and the experience of crossing with the sea churning far below and the Atlantic wind adding movement to the structure is one of the most memorable short physical experiences available in Northern Ireland. The island of Carrick-a-Rede itself is a small, rocky outcrop that provides nesting habitat for fulmars and other seabirds and commands excellent views along the north Antrim coast toward Fair Head to the east and the Giant's Causeway to the west. The perspective from the island back toward the mainland cliff gives a clear impression of the dramatic geological character of this section of coastline, where the basalt cliffs and sea stacks reflect the volcanic history of the northeast Irish coast. The coastal path from Ballintoy to the bridge and the wider Causeway Coast Way provide excellent walking in a landscape of geological and natural interest. The Giant's Causeway is approximately eight kilometres to the west and the two sites are frequently visited together as part of a Causeway Coast day.

This fortress stands on the Kinbane Castle.summit of a bold promontory that rises to a great height above the sea. Dunaneeny means " the fort of the assembly or fair." The area on which the castle stood is a smoothlevel, measuring from east to west 60 yards, and from north to south 35 yards. It was surrounded by the sea on all sides except the south, where it was protected by a moat extending from east to west 80 yards, cut chiefly through the solid rock. The highest part of the wall now remaining is only 12 1/2 feet, and every vestige of the castle which stood within the fortified area has disappeared. Tradition says it was built by the O'Carrols, an old family who resided here many centuries ago. Later, the chieftains of the MacDonnells made this one of their principal strongholds, and from it they could watch their galleys gliding into Port Brittas almost at its base. The castle is notable for being the birthplace of the second Sorley Boy MacDonnell, who was born here in 1505. It was from here, at the head of his kerns and gallowglasses, he led them from victory to victory, till he became master of the whole of the Route. It was here, too, he died, and from here he was carried to his resting-place, the procession making its way through Ballycastle to the Abbey of Bun-na-mairgie, where they laid their gallant chief in a soldier's grave.The ruins of this ancient church and friary are only a few minutes' walk from Ballycastle. The friary is said to have been built by the MacQuillins, and to have been enlarged by the MacDonnells. Formerly a river ran close to the abbey, but its course was diverted in 1738 by Mr. Boyd, in order that it might help to deepen the inner dock.. The church and friary were built of Ballycastle sandstone, filled in with small stones. From the fourteenth or fifteenth century it was occupied by Franciscan friars of the third order. The church suffered considerable damage on 4th January, 1584, when the English of the Pale, under Sir John Perrott, marched to Bun-na-mairgie, where, leaving his cavalry in charge of Sir William Stanley in and around the church, he placed his infantry in the Fort of Ballycastle. Sorley Boy was on his way home with several galleys full of Scots, but his followers, anticipating his arrival, attacked the English troops at Bun-na-mairgie at one o'clock in the morning, and set fire to the roof of the church, which was thatched. The church was full of horses. A severe battle ensued, in which Sir William Stanley was wounded, and Sir John Perrott was forced to withdraw his troops, but took with him St. Columba's cross from the church, which he sent to Sir Francis Walshingham, describing it as Sorley Boy's cross, with a request it should be given to Lady Walshingham. The church was subsequently restored and the friary again reoccupied. The churchyard of Bun-na-mairgie was the burial-place of the MacDonnells. The place, says Rev. George Hill, heaves with the MacDonnell dust. There were those who fell when James MacDonnell slaughtered the MacQuillins in Glenshesc at the battle of Aura. There were those who fell when Shane O'Neill overthrew Sorley MacDonnell and his brother James in 1665 at Glenshesc or Glentow. There were, too, those who fell around Bun-na-mairgie in 1584 when Sorley Boy and his followers repulsed Sir John Perrott and his followers. It is said that during this period heaps of bodies were carried there and left unburied for weeks until an opportunity came.

The Giant's Causeway on the north Antrim coast of Northern Ireland is the most visited tourist attraction in Ireland and one of the most spectacular geological formations in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where approximately forty thousand interlocking basalt columns formed by the slow cooling of volcanic lava approximately sixty million years ago create a pavement of extraordinary geometric regularity extending from the base of the sea cliffs into the Atlantic Ocean. The columns are predominantly hexagonal in cross-section, ranging from a few centimetres to over forty centimetres across, and their regular, almost architectural form seems more like deliberate construction than geological process. The volcanic episode that created the Causeway was part of the great North Atlantic rifting event of the Eocene period, when enormous quantities of basalt lava erupted across what is now northeastern Ireland and western Scotland, creating formations that appear at the Giant's Causeway, on the island of Staffa in Scotland and at several other locations along what was once a continuous volcanic landscape. As the thick lava flows cooled slowly from the top and bottom simultaneously, contraction fractures propagated inward through the cooling rock, intersecting in the polygonal pattern that reflects the most efficient packing of cracks in a homogeneous medium. The geometry is the same reason soap bubbles pack in hexagonal arrangements. The legend of Fionn mac Cumhaill, the Irish giant who built the Causeway to reach his Scottish rival Benandonner, is one of Ireland's most famous myths and provides an entirely satisfying alternative explanation for a formation that does appear almost impossibly constructed. The story connects the Causeway to the identical formation at Fingal's Cave on Staffa, a geological relationship that the legend understood intuitively without recourse to volcanology. The National Trust visitor centre provides excellent interpretation and the clifftop coastal path gives access to spectacular views of the Causeway from above.

Titanic Belfast is the world's largest Titanic visitor experience, a spectacular purpose-built museum on the site of the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast's regenerated Titanic Quarter where the RMS Titanic was designed, built and launched. Opened in 2012 for the centenary of the disaster, the building itself is one of the most architecturally striking visitor attractions in Ireland, its four prow-shaped facades clad in aluminium panels evoking the prow of a great ship. The decision to build on the exact site of the Harland and Wolff slipways where the Titanic was constructed gives Titanic Belfast a physical authenticity no other Titanic attraction can match. The Slipway Experience, allowing visitors to ride through a recreation of the shipyard, the Ocean Road walk above the surviving slipways and the view of the Thompson Dry Dock together create an experience rooted in the actual place where the ship was made. The exhibition traces the broader social and industrial history of Belfast that produced the shipbuilding industry, connecting the ship to the culture and community of the city in ways that give the story human depth beyond the disaster narrative. Titanic Belfast has been recognised as one of the finest museum experiences in Europe and is the centrepiece of a visitor quarter that includes the SS Nomadic, the only surviving White Star Line vessel.