County Antrim

Slemish

Slemish, historically called Slieve Mish (from Irish Sliabh Mis, meaning 'Mis's mountain'), is a hill in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies a few miles east of Ballymena, in the townland of Carnstroan. Tradition holds that Saint Patrick, enslaved as a youth, was brought to this area and tended sheep herds on Slemish, and that during this time he found God. Slemish is the remains of the plug of an extinct volcano. The plug is made of olivine dolerite and was formed during the Palaeogene period of the Earth's geological history. Its distinctive appearance — its upper reaches are very steep and rugged, in contrast to the tidy fields on its lower westward-facing slopes and the relatively flat bogland to the east — causes it to dominate the landscape for miles around. Slemish is within an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) and, therefore, helps to protect and manage the fragile animal and plant communities that inhabit its slopes. An ideal location for bird watchers, large black ravens, buzzards, wheatears and meadow pipits can be seen regularly.

Popularity

Monument County Antrim

Albert Memorial Clock

The Albert Memorial Clock (more commonly referred to as the Albert Clock) is a clock tower situated at Queen's Square in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was completed in 1869 and is one of the best known landmarks of Belfast.

Popularity

Zoo Aquarium County Antrim

Belfast Zoo

Belfast Zoological Gardens (also known as Belfast Zoo) is a zoo in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is in a relatively secluded location on the northeastern slope of Cavehill, overlooking Belfast's Antrim Road. Opened in 1934, it is the second-oldest zoo in Ireland, after Dublin Zoo, which opened in 1831. Belfast Zoo is one of the top fee-paying visitor attractions in Northern Ireland, receiving more than 300,000 visitors a year. Located in north Belfast, the zoo's 55-acre (22 ha) site is home to more than 1,200 animals and 140 species. The majority of the animals in Belfast Zoo are in danger in their natural habitat. The zoo carries out important conservation work and takes part in over 90 European and international breeding programmes which help to ensure the survival of many species under threat. The zoo is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

Popularity

Divis

Divis (; from Irish Dubhais, "black ridge") is a hill and area of sprawling moorland north-west of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. With a height of 1,568 ft (478 m), it is the highest of the Belfast Hills. It is joined with the neighbouring Black Mountain, and in the past they may have been seen as one. Divis transmitting station is on the summit. The mountain extends north to the Antrim Plateau and shares its geology, consisting of a basaltic cover underlain by limestone and lias clay. In 2004 the Divis area and its surrounding mountains were handed over to the National Trust, having been under the control of the Ministry of Defence since 1953. Since then four walking trails have been developed, of varying lengths and taking walkers to different points of interest. These are the Lough, Summit, Heath and Ridge trails.

Popularity

Monument County Antrim

Queen Victoria Monument

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than those of any of her predecessors, constituted the Victorian era, a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, who was the fourth son of King George III. After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality. Victoria married her maternal first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet "grandmother of Europe". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 81. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son Edward VII.

Popularity

Archaeological Site County Antrim

Bonamargy Friary

Bonamargy Friary is situated in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, off the Cushendall Road on the approach to Ballycastle. The name Bonamargy means ‘foot of the Margy River’, the river formed by the joining of the Cary River and Shesk Rivers. It is a late Franciscan foundation established in 1485 by Rory MacQuillan. It is said that the first battle between the warring MacDonnell and MacQuillan clans was fought on nearby land. At the main entrance to the friary is a small two-storey gatehouse which opens into a store and workroom. Well worn steps lead directly to the dormitory above. Traces of an altar can still be found in the adjoining church, and the locked vaults hold the remains of the celebrated chieftain, Sorley Boy MacDonnell, and several of the Earls of Antrim. His grandson Randall, 1st Marquess of Antrim, noted for his role in the War of the Three Kingdoms, is also buried there. Perhaps the friary's most famous resident was the 17th century prophet and recluse Julia MacQuillen. Known as "The Black Nun", MacQuillen wished to be buried at the entrance of the chapel so that she might be trodden under the feet of those who entered as a token of her humility. MacQuillen also reportedly asked that she not be buried in her coffin and that it be used by the next poor person had need of it. A worn Celtic cross (rounded with a hole in the centre) marks her grave at the west end of the main church. Legend says that she now haunts the site. It is said that those who do the black nun spy, on that very day will die. Around 1822 four manuscripts were found in an old oaken chest in the ruins of Bonamargy Friary. One of these manuscripts is described as "Saint Bonaventures Life of Christ" and/or "A History of the Blessed Scriptures". Another manuscript contained a large portion of one of the principal theological works of Saint Thomas Aquinas, written on vellum, in very contracted Latin and extending to about 600 quarto pages. The earliest date appearing on it is 1338 and the latest 1380. It originally belonged to the Monastery of Saint Anthony, of Amiens in France. Bonamargy Franciscan Friary is a State Care Historic Monument in the townland of Bonamargy, in Moyle District Council area, at grid ref: D1268 4086. The area surrounding the state care monument of Bonamargy Friary is a Scheduled Historic Monument, at grid ref: D1268 4087.

Popularity

Trostan

Trostan (Irish: Trostán, meaning 'pole/staff') is a mountain in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and at 551 metres (1,808 feet) is the highest point in the county.

Popularity

Knocklayd

Knocklayd (Irish name: Cnoc Leithid, "hill of the slope/expanse") is a peak in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, about 3 miles (5 km) due south from Ballycastle. The Irish Grid reference is D115 364.

Popularity

#10

General County Antrim

Andrew Jackson Cottage and US Rangers Centre

The Andrew Jackson Centre, also known as the Andrew Jackson Cottage, is the ancestral home of Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States. It is located in the village of Boneybefore in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The centre consists of a refurbished traditional thatched Ulster–Scots farmhouse, which is known to have been built in the 1750s and was home to Andrew Jackson's parents shortly before they emigrated to South Carolina in the United States. The interior of the farmhouse is effectively a small museum, consisting of original rooms decorated in the style of that period and featuring an extensive display on the life of Andrew Jackson. The cottage's grounds feature the US Rangers Centre, which pays homage to the soldiers of the First Battalions of the elite US Rangers, which was first "activated" in the town Carrickfergus in 1942. The Carrickfergus Borough Council made efforts to make the centre more accessible to tourists. These include the installation of new information plaques in the recent standardised style of those found elsewhere in Carrickfergus, as well as the installation of roadsigns that more clearly show its location. These changes were put in place in an attempt to promote the town's historical Ulster-Scots connection to the United States, a connection that many locals take a great deal of pride in. The Carrickfergus Borough Council was consolidated in 2015 into the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, who have since opened the cottage five days a week for public visits.

Popularity

Old Bushmills Distillery →

Videos from Antrim

Behind the Scenes at Ireland's iconic Distillery, Bushmills

Ireland With Michael

igorotinni

Slemish →

BELFAST 4K Walk | Northern Ireland City Hall to Albert Memorial Clock🏛️⏰

Roman 4K Walks

Albert Memorial Clock →

Amazing Animals at The Belfast Zoo | Belfast, Northern Ireland

Travels with V and Steve

Belfast Zoo →

Divis and Black Mountain BoardWalk Ridge Walk A Hidden Gem Looking over Belfast and Far Beyond

Tom McClean Positive Belfast

Divis →

An Irish Ghost Story | The Black Nun of Bonamargy Friary

The Jolly Reiver

Bonamargy Friary →

All places in Antrim

Showing 24 of 235 places

GeneralAntrim

Old Bushmills Distillery

PeakAntrim

Slemish

MonumentAntrim

Albert Memorial Clock

Zoo AquariumAntrim

Belfast Zoo

PeakAntrim

Divis

MonumentAntrim

Queen Victoria Monument

Archaeological SiteAntrim

Bonamargy Friary

PeakAntrim

Trostan

Trostan (Irish: Trostán, meaning 'pole/staff') is a mountain in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and at 551 metres (1,808 feet) is the highest point in the county.

PeakAntrim

Knocklayd

Knocklayd (Irish name: Cnoc Leithid, "hill of the slope/expanse") is a peak in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, about 3 miles (5 km) due south from Ballycastle. The Irish Grid reference is D115 364.

GeneralAntrim

Andrew Jackson Cottage and US Rangers Centre

MuseumAntrim

Northern Ireland War Memorial

The Northern Ireland War Memorial also called NI War Memorial and War Memorial was opened in 2007 in Talbot Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It replaced an earlier building called Memorial House which was located in Waring Street on a site which was bombed during the Blitz in 1941. It contains the Home Front Exhibition and the first national memorial to the hundreds killed in the Belfast blitz, created by Carolyn Mulholland.

GeneralGiant's Causeway

GeneralAntrim

Giant's Causeway

The Giant's Causeway (Irish: Clochán an Aifir or Clochán na bhFomhórach) is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province active in the region during the Paleogene period. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (five kilometres) northeast of Bushmills. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 and a national nature reserve by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland in 1987. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giant's Causeway was named the fourth-greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although some have between four and eight sides. The tallest are approximately 12 metres (39 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres (92 ft) thick in places. Much of the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site is owned and managed by the National Trust. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Northern Ireland, receiving nearly one million visitors in 2019. Access to the Giant's Causeway is free of charge: it is not necessary to go via the visitor centre that charges a fee. The remainder of the site is owned by the Crown Estate and several private landowners.

MonumentAntrim

Stephen Boyd

William Millar (4 July 1931 – 2 June 1977), better known by his stage name Stephen Boyd, was an actor from Northern Ireland. He emerged as a leading man during the late 1950s with his role as the villainous Messala in Ben-Hur (1959), a role that earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. He received his second Golden Globe nomination for the musical Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962). Boyd also appeared, sometimes as a hero and sometimes as a malefactor, in the major big-screen productions The Man Who Never Was (1956), The Night Heaven Fell (1958), The Bravados (1958), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Genghis Khan (1965), Fantastic Voyage (1966), The Bible: In the Beginning... (also 1966), and Shalako (1968).

BeachAntrim

White Park Bay

White Park Bay (also spelled Whitepark Bay) is a bay and three-mile long beach located near Ballycastle, County Antrim, on the north coast of Northern Ireland, along the Giant’s Causeway Coastal Route. Sheep and cattle graze the hills and beach along the bay, which has been under the care of the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty since 1938. It is situated in the townland of White Park (likely from the Irish An Pháirc), which is 170 acres in area and located in the civil parish of Ballintoy. White Park Bay is home to the Whitepark Bay Youth Hostel. The beach is unsuitable for swimming due to rip currents. A cairn above the beach is designated as a Scheduled Historic Monument at grid ref: D0225 4403.

Aluminum Christmas tree — photo by John Pollock