BALLYCASTLE IN THE 1830's
The following description of Ballycastle, compiled in the year 1831, is copied from the Manuscript Memoirs of the first Ordnance Survey of Ireland and preserved in Box 15 in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, Dawson Street, Dublin.
BALLYCASTLE consists of two principal and tolerably regular streets of sufficient width, which extend for about one-third of a mile from south-west to north-east. The junction of these streets is in the centre of the town, where there is a sort of open market-place in front of the church. There is an interval of five hundred yards between the north-eastern extremity of these streets and what is called the "Red Row" or Quay (from the houses having been at one time roofed with tiles), which consists of a single row of houses running at right angles to the former street, and extending for about two hundred and twenty yards along the coast.
A street of small, one-storey houses called the Milltown, from its vicinity to the corn mill, extends for about three hundred and fifty yards on the southern side of, and nearly parallel to, the principal street (i.e., Castle Street). Besides these streets, there are four lanes inhabited by the lower classes, in all containing two hundred and twenty-four houses, of which nine are three storey, one hundred and twenty-seven are two storey, and eighty-eight are one storey cabins and cottages. The cabins and cottages are chiefly confined to the Milltown and lanes. They are tolerably comfortable and cleanly, being built of stone, thatched, and generally consisting of a kitchen and two other apartments.
The principal streets are occupied chiefly by persons in business, and consist of two and three-storey houses, which are not very neat nor modern in their appearance, though in general comfortable and cleanly. There are several good houses on the quay and on the road leading from it to the town. These are mostly occupied by private gentlemen. The streets are all of a tolerable width; and except the one-storey cabins, the houses are all slated. The general appearance of the town is respectable and agreeable.
Market House
The market house stands in one of the principal streets and near the centre of the town. It is a plain, two-storey building. The lower part is used as a sort of shambles or market-place, and the room above as a place for holding manor courts and petty sessions. The gaol or bride-well is at the rere of the market-house and consists of two cells or rooms underground and two above. It is merely used for cofining riotous persons in, but was formerly used in connection with the manor court, for the purpose of confining debtors decreed in it.
The principal private residences are those of Alexander McNeill, Esq., Alex. Miller, Esq., John McNeale, Esq., Mrs. Boyd, Captain Gilbert, R.N., Inspecting Commander of Coastguard; Captain Blois, R.N., Captain Sampson; the Rev. William Stewart, A.M., Chaplain of Ballycastle Church; Alexander Knox, Esq., M.D., and Lieutenant Shortt, R.N., Chief Officer of Coastguard. The residences or these gentlemen are plain, substantial houses, mostly two storeys high, and without anything in their architecture or appearance worthy of description.
Very Industrious
Ballycastle is neither lighted, paved, nor watched. No houses are being, or have been lately built. The manorial rights which were enjoyed by the Antrim family, the chief landlords, and granted to them by King James I, were rather peculiar to that family. These laws, or rather privileges, were for the most part abrogated on the introduction of the County Grand Jury laws into this Kingdom. The inhabitants of Ballycastle are almost all engaged in some business or trade. They are very industrious. Many of them are wealthy, and they are, in general, in comparatively comfortable circumstances. There are not any literary institutions, libraries, nor reading-rooms. Ballycastle is not now either a manufacturing or commercial centre. There are neither banks nor branch banks of any kind.
There are six annual fairs, held on the following days :- Easter Tuesday, last Tuesday in May, July, August, October and November. The market days are Tuesday and Saturday, but these, with the exception of every third Tuesday, called "court days" are inconsiderable. No tolls nor customs have been levied for five years. Cattle of all kinds are sold at the fairs, and yarn, meal, potatoes, pedlars' goods, and crockery ware are sold in considerable quantities at both fairs and markets, such articles, except the two last-mentioned, being the produce of the neighbouring farms. None of these commodities are bought up for exportation.
Mail Cars
The supply is pretty much the same throughout the year. Ballycastle is tolerably supplied with meat, poultry, milk and butter. The supply of fruit is also pretty good, but that of vegetables is scanty. Very few cattle are stall-fed here. Some are grazed. Ground for pasturing and gardening lets for £1 17 6 per acre on an average. Timber is generally procured from Belfast. Pine is the description mostly used. It generally costs £3 per ton. Slates are brought from Wales and stone and lime is abundant in every part of the neighbourhood. Not more than three houses are insured against fire. There are not any life assurances. No combinations of any kind exist. Labourers or artisans seldom suffer from want of employment.
A car with the mail from Cushendall arrives every day at 7 p.m., having left the former place at 4 p.m. This car starts at 6 a.m. from Ballycastle with the mail for Cushendall, where it arrives at 9 a.m. The fare by this car is one shilling and sixpence. On the arrival of the car from Cushendall, another is despatched to Ballymoney, and passes through Dervock. It arrives at its destination at 10 p.m. This car leaves Ballymoney with the Dublin mail for Ballycastle every day at 2 p.m. and arrives at 5 p.m. The fare by this car is two shillings. It is not as well appointed as the car to Cushendall. Two regular carmen or carriers leave Ballycastle for Belfast every Monday and return every Saturday. The charge for carriage of goods between these two towns is two shillings per hundredweight.
Social Amenities
No steamers call regularly here. Those from Derry to Glasgow and Liverpool sometimes pass close to the shore, and take on board goods and passengers, but their calling depends either on the state of the weather or the probability of there being no business for them. All classes are social, fond of amusement, and very hospitable. There are few country towns where there is more society than in Ballycastle. Dancing forms the principal amusement of the lower class, and in this they indulge frequently, particularly at the fairs and large markets in Ballycastle at which times there is generally a room in each public house set apart for that purpose. All classes are industrious. The people are very honest, sober, and well conducted. There are few saddle horses. One chaise, a large four-wheeled car, and twelve outside-cars are kept for hire. They are in general well appointed. The charge per mile for the chaise is one shilling, and for the cars from sevenpence to eightpence. These cars are kept in constant employment by the number of tourists who visit this coast in summer.
Ballycastle is not improving, nor has it been recently improved. The estate being in chancery, and the Chancellor being unable to grant a longer lease than seven years, are the causes of this. No family derives its title from this town. The town is inconsiderable at present, though it was once (in the time of the late Hugh Boyd, Esq., about seventy or eighty years since) in a much more flourishing condition. A pier was erected partly at Mr. Boyd's expense, and the remainder paid by a grant from Government. It was finished in 1744, and cost £30,000; but it was not sufficiently strong to withstand the furious sea which frequently beats against it, and a considerable portion of it was washed away.
The ruin caused an obstruction at the mouth of the basin, which in consequence soon filled with sand, and at present the water scarcely flows into it, except at very high tides. It was sufficiently capacious to contain a large number of vessels, the inner basin being about 2 ½ acres and the outer one somewhat more. It was capable of admitting vessels of 300 tons. A harbour of this description on a coast otherwise very scantily provided with even good anchorage naturally attracted manufactures, and accordingly an extensive glass trade was established in very favourable circumstances.
Almost every article required in the manufacture was to be had, of a very good quality, in the immediate neighbourhood. Very fine sand was at the Glass House door, the colliery was only a mile distant, with good communication, either by land or water. The glass, when made, could be shipped for exportation at once, but of course the destruction of the harbour was very soon followed by that of the Glass Works. The Glass House still stands (on the small island outside the basin, called in consequence, the Glass Island). It was struck by lightning on the 28th June, 1827, part of the coping was thrown down, and a large hole was made in the side of the building. There was likewise an extensive bleach-green, which has been entirely discontinued and all the buildings removed.
Principal Buildings
The principal building in the town is the church, a neat stone structure, with a handsome spire. The stone made use of is the sandstone from the collieries, which is very well adapted for architectural purposes. It was built in 1756 at the sole expense of Mr. Boyd, who endowed it with £50 per annum, to which the Board of First Fruits some time since added £20 per annum and the presentation to the Chaplaincy is in the gift of the proprietor of the Boyd estate.
The Mansion House belonging to the estate is on the Quay, which is distant about half-a-mile from the town itself, with which it is connected by a fine avenue of trees. The house is now almost in ruins. There are some very good houses on the Quay and on the road leading from thence to the town. The Parish Church is a little more than half-a-mile from Ballycastle, towards Coleraine. It has been lately rebuilt, and is perfectly plain. The Glebe House stands near the church; it was built in 1811. There is one Presbyterian Meeting House at Ballycastle, built in 1827, and another at Culkenny, about 2 1/2 miles from it, on the Coleraine Road. There is a Catholic Chapel in the town and another in the townland of Corvally up the Glenshesk. There is also a Methodist Meeting House in Ballycastle.
The Roads
There is no manufacture of any importance in the parish. Linen is made in some of the peasants' houses and kelp is made along the coast, but in much smaller quantity than formerly. The principal roads are those from Ballycastle to Coleraine, Ballymoney and Ballintoy - all of which are very good. The old road to Armoy and Ballymoney is hilly, and is not kept in such good repair as the others. There is likewise a road running up the Glenshesk and leading to Armoy. This road makes a circuit round Knocklayd; some of the hills on it are so steep (one particularly in Drumineeny, called the Cool Hill) that it is seldom made use of, except for the country through which it passes. The only river is the Glenshesk river, a mountain torrent running along the eastern side of the parish and dividing it from Culfeightrin. It is not navigable.
Clare House, the residence of Charles McGildowny, Esq., is about a mile from Ballycastle, on the cliff overlooking the sea. It commands a fine view of Fair Head and the mountains in Culfeightrin, and likewise of the Island of Rathlin and the more distant Scottish mountains. The plantations about it are not extensive, the ground being too much confined between the road and the edge of the cliff. The situation is too much exposed for trees to thrive well. There is nothing remarkable in the appearance of the house. Glenbank, the residence of Mrs. Cuppage, widow of the late John Cuppage, Esq., is about three miles up the Glenshesk. Being quite among the mountains, the scenery around it is of a wild character, and though not sufficiently so as to entitle it to the appellation of romantic scenery, it is by no means destitute of beauty.
Ancient Forts
There is a fishing for salmon at the pier head at Ballycastle during the summer, and another at Kenbane. Their usual price at Ballycastle is from fourpence to sixpence per pound. The town is very scantily supplied with other descriptions of fish. There are several caves in the cliffs along the coast, the most remarkable is near Kenbane, at the junction of the chalk and basalt. The sea flows into it and it is inaccessible by land, which is likewise the case with all the others, one of which is under Clare House. Of the ancient mounds or forts there are four:- Dunamallaght, Broomore, Cloughanmurry and Kilcreg. The first three are in very conspicuous situations, the last mentioned not so much so, though on much higher ground. Dunamallaght, or the cursed fort, is in the Townparks, in the plantation at the back of the Mansion house garden. It had a summer house built on the top of it, which was destroyed a few years ago. Broomore fort has nothing remarkable about it except that it is situated on the summit of a very pointed hill. Another feature at the foot of Knocklayd - Cloughanmurry - is on a singular mound on the side of the Ballymoney road, about three miles from Ballycastle.
The mound on which it stands appears at first sight to be artificial, as it is small and round and rises abruptly out of a plain. The soil having been removed on one side of it exhibited basaltic rocks inclining to a columnar formation, and prove it to be one of the hummocks which are not uncommon in a basaltic country. On this mound or hummock, a building, probably a Tower (the space being too small for any other sort of building) was erected. Part of the foundation still remains and an old inhabitant of the country informed me that he remembered a considerable part of it standing.
The same individual pointed out to me a circumstance tending rather to confirm the supposition that the building was of some height, and had remained for many years uninhabited, except by birds. The earth about the foundation, particularly that within it, is of a very rich nature and full of small bones, apparently those of birds. It is a Trigonometrical Station. Kilcreg fort has nothing remarkable about it.
Charter School
Near the parish church there is a Charter School where sixty female children used to be maintained and educated until the age of fourteen, when they were bound apprentices to such persons of good character as might require their services. The Government having lately decided that no more Parliamentary grants should be made for these schools, except for the education of such children as were still at them, this establishment will, of course, soon be at an end.
The memoirs are dated 7th July, 1831, and are signed by Lieutenant T. C. Robe, Royal Artillery.
The following description of Ballycastle, compiled in the year 1831, is copied from the Manuscript Memoirs of the first Ordnance Survey of Ireland and preserved in Box 15 in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, Dawson Street, Dublin.
BALLYCASTLE consists of two principal and tolerably regular streets of sufficient width, which extend for about one-third of a mile from south-west to north-east. The junction of these streets is in the centre of the town, where there is a sort of open market-place in front of the church. There is an interval of five hundred yards between the north-eastern extremity of these streets and what is called the "Red Row" or Quay (from the houses having been at one time roofed with tiles), which consists of a single row of houses running at right angles to the former street, and extending for about two hundred and twenty yards along the coast.
A street of small, one-storey houses called the Milltown, from its vicinity to the corn mill, extends for about three hundred and fifty yards on the southern side of, and nearly parallel to, the principal street (i.e., Castle Street). Besides these streets, there are four lanes inhabited by the lower classes, in all containing two hundred and twenty-four houses, of which nine are three storey, one hundred and twenty-seven are two storey, and eighty-eight are one storey cabins and cottages. The cabins and cottages are chiefly confined to the Milltown and lanes. They are tolerably comfortable and cleanly, being built of stone, thatched, and generally consisting of a kitchen and two other apartments.
The principal streets are occupied chiefly by persons in business, and consist of two and three-storey houses, which are not very neat nor modern in their appearance, though in general comfortable and cleanly. There are several good houses on the quay and on the road leading from it to the town. These are mostly occupied by private gentlemen. The streets are all of a tolerable width; and except the one-storey cabins, the houses are all slated. The general appearance of the town is respectable and agreeable.
Market House
The market house stands in one of the principal streets and near the centre of the town. It is a plain, two-storey building. The lower part is used as a sort of shambles or market-place, and the room above as a place for holding manor courts and petty sessions. The gaol or bride-well is at the rere of the market-house and consists of two cells or rooms underground and two above. It is merely used for cofining riotous persons in, but was formerly used in connection with the manor court, for the purpose of confining debtors decreed in it.
The principal private residences are those of Alexander McNeill, Esq., Alex. Miller, Esq., John McNeale, Esq., Mrs. Boyd, Captain Gilbert, R.N., Inspecting Commander of Coastguard; Captain Blois, R.N., Captain Sampson; the Rev. William Stewart, A.M., Chaplain of Ballycastle Church; Alexander Knox, Esq., M.D., and Lieutenant Shortt, R.N., Chief Officer of Coastguard. The residences or these gentlemen are plain, substantial houses, mostly two storeys high, and without anything in their architecture or appearance worthy of description.
Very Industrious
Ballycastle is neither lighted, paved, nor watched. No houses are being, or have been lately built. The manorial rights which were enjoyed by the Antrim family, the chief landlords, and granted to them by King James I, were rather peculiar to that family. These laws, or rather privileges, were for the most part abrogated on the introduction of the County Grand Jury laws into this Kingdom. The inhabitants of Ballycastle are almost all engaged in some business or trade. They are very industrious. Many of them are wealthy, and they are, in general, in comparatively comfortable circumstances. There are not any literary institutions, libraries, nor reading-rooms. Ballycastle is not now either a manufacturing or commercial centre. There are neither banks nor branch banks of any kind.
There are six annual fairs, held on the following days :- Easter Tuesday, last Tuesday in May, July, August, October and November. The market days are Tuesday and Saturday, but these, with the exception of every third Tuesday, called "court days" are inconsiderable. No tolls nor customs have been levied for five years. Cattle of all kinds are sold at the fairs, and yarn, meal, potatoes, pedlars' goods, and crockery ware are sold in considerable quantities at both fairs and markets, such articles, except the two last-mentioned, being the produce of the neighbouring farms. None of these commodities are bought up for exportation.
Mail Cars
The supply is pretty much the same throughout the year. Ballycastle is tolerably supplied with meat, poultry, milk and butter. The supply of fruit is also pretty good, but that of vegetables is scanty. Very few cattle are stall-fed here. Some are grazed. Ground for pasturing and gardening lets for £1 17 6 per acre on an average. Timber is generally procured from Belfast. Pine is the description mostly used. It generally costs £3 per ton. Slates are brought from Wales and stone and lime is abundant in every part of the neighbourhood. Not more than three houses are insured against fire. There are not any life assurances. No combinations of any kind exist. Labourers or artisans seldom suffer from want of employment.
A car with the mail from Cushendall arrives every day at 7 p.m., having left the former place at 4 p.m. This car starts at 6 a.m. from Ballycastle with the mail for Cushendall, where it arrives at 9 a.m. The fare by this car is one shilling and sixpence. On the arrival of the car from Cushendall, another is despatched to Ballymoney, and passes through Dervock. It arrives at its destination at 10 p.m. This car leaves Ballymoney with the Dublin mail for Ballycastle every day at 2 p.m. and arrives at 5 p.m. The fare by this car is two shillings. It is not as well appointed as the car to Cushendall. Two regular carmen or carriers leave Ballycastle for Belfast every Monday and return every Saturday. The charge for carriage of goods between these two towns is two shillings per hundredweight.
Social Amenities
No steamers call regularly here. Those from Derry to Glasgow and Liverpool sometimes pass close to the shore, and take on board goods and passengers, but their calling depends either on the state of the weather or the probability of there being no business for them. All classes are social, fond of amusement, and very hospitable. There are few country towns where there is more society than in Ballycastle. Dancing forms the principal amusement of the lower class, and in this they indulge frequently, particularly at the fairs and large markets in Ballycastle at which times there is generally a room in each public house set apart for that purpose. All classes are industrious. The people are very honest, sober, and well conducted. There are few saddle horses. One chaise, a large four-wheeled car, and twelve outside-cars are kept for hire. They are in general well appointed. The charge per mile for the chaise is one shilling, and for the cars from sevenpence to eightpence. These cars are kept in constant employment by the number of tourists who visit this coast in summer.
Ballycastle is not improving, nor has it been recently improved. The estate being in chancery, and the Chancellor being unable to grant a longer lease than seven years, are the causes of this. No family derives its title from this town. The town is inconsiderable at present, though it was once (in the time of the late Hugh Boyd, Esq., about seventy or eighty years since) in a much more flourishing condition. A pier was erected partly at Mr. Boyd's expense, and the remainder paid by a grant from Government. It was finished in 1744, and cost £30,000; but it was not sufficiently strong to withstand the furious sea which frequently beats against it, and a considerable portion of it was washed away.
The ruin caused an obstruction at the mouth of the basin, which in consequence soon filled with sand, and at present the water scarcely flows into it, except at very high tides. It was sufficiently capacious to contain a large number of vessels, the inner basin being about 2 ½ acres and the outer one somewhat more. It was capable of admitting vessels of 300 tons. A harbour of this description on a coast otherwise very scantily provided with even good anchorage naturally attracted manufactures, and accordingly an extensive glass trade was established in very favourable circumstances.
Almost every article required in the manufacture was to be had, of a very good quality, in the immediate neighbourhood. Very fine sand was at the Glass House door, the colliery was only a mile distant, with good communication, either by land or water. The glass, when made, could be shipped for exportation at once, but of course the destruction of the harbour was very soon followed by that of the Glass Works. The Glass House still stands (on the small island outside the basin, called in consequence, the Glass Island). It was struck by lightning on the 28th June, 1827, part of the coping was thrown down, and a large hole was made in the side of the building. There was likewise an extensive bleach-green, which has been entirely discontinued and all the buildings removed.
Principal Buildings
The principal building in the town is the church, a neat stone structure, with a handsome spire. The stone made use of is the sandstone from the collieries, which is very well adapted for architectural purposes. It was built in 1756 at the sole expense of Mr. Boyd, who endowed it with £50 per annum, to which the Board of First Fruits some time since added £20 per annum and the presentation to the Chaplaincy is in the gift of the proprietor of the Boyd estate.
The Mansion House belonging to the estate is on the Quay, which is distant about half-a-mile from the town itself, with which it is connected by a fine avenue of trees. The house is now almost in ruins. There are some very good houses on the Quay and on the road leading from thence to the town. The Parish Church is a little more than half-a-mile from Ballycastle, towards Coleraine. It has been lately rebuilt, and is perfectly plain. The Glebe House stands near the church; it was built in 1811. There is one Presbyterian Meeting House at Ballycastle, built in 1827, and another at Culkenny, about 2 1/2 miles from it, on the Coleraine Road. There is a Catholic Chapel in the town and another in the townland of Corvally up the Glenshesk. There is also a Methodist Meeting House in Ballycastle.
The Roads
There is no manufacture of any importance in the parish. Linen is made in some of the peasants' houses and kelp is made along the coast, but in much smaller quantity than formerly. The principal roads are those from Ballycastle to Coleraine, Ballymoney and Ballintoy - all of which are very good. The old road to Armoy and Ballymoney is hilly, and is not kept in such good repair as the others. There is likewise a road running up the Glenshesk and leading to Armoy. This road makes a circuit round Knocklayd; some of the hills on it are so steep (one particularly in Drumineeny, called the Cool Hill) that it is seldom made use of, except for the country through which it passes. The only river is the Glenshesk river, a mountain torrent running along the eastern side of the parish and dividing it from Culfeightrin. It is not navigable.
Clare House, the residence of Charles McGildowny, Esq., is about a mile from Ballycastle, on the cliff overlooking the sea. It commands a fine view of Fair Head and the mountains in Culfeightrin, and likewise of the Island of Rathlin and the more distant Scottish mountains. The plantations about it are not extensive, the ground being too much confined between the road and the edge of the cliff. The situation is too much exposed for trees to thrive well. There is nothing remarkable in the appearance of the house. Glenbank, the residence of Mrs. Cuppage, widow of the late John Cuppage, Esq., is about three miles up the Glenshesk. Being quite among the mountains, the scenery around it is of a wild character, and though not sufficiently so as to entitle it to the appellation of romantic scenery, it is by no means destitute of beauty.
Ancient Forts
There is a fishing for salmon at the pier head at Ballycastle during the summer, and another at Kenbane. Their usual price at Ballycastle is from fourpence to sixpence per pound. The town is very scantily supplied with other descriptions of fish. There are several caves in the cliffs along the coast, the most remarkable is near Kenbane, at the junction of the chalk and basalt. The sea flows into it and it is inaccessible by land, which is likewise the case with all the others, one of which is under Clare House. Of the ancient mounds or forts there are four:- Dunamallaght, Broomore, Cloughanmurry and Kilcreg. The first three are in very conspicuous situations, the last mentioned not so much so, though on much higher ground. Dunamallaght, or the cursed fort, is in the Townparks, in the plantation at the back of the Mansion house garden. It had a summer house built on the top of it, which was destroyed a few years ago. Broomore fort has nothing remarkable about it except that it is situated on the summit of a very pointed hill. Another feature at the foot of Knocklayd - Cloughanmurry - is on a singular mound on the side of the Ballymoney road, about three miles from Ballycastle.
The mound on which it stands appears at first sight to be artificial, as it is small and round and rises abruptly out of a plain. The soil having been removed on one side of it exhibited basaltic rocks inclining to a columnar formation, and prove it to be one of the hummocks which are not uncommon in a basaltic country. On this mound or hummock, a building, probably a Tower (the space being too small for any other sort of building) was erected. Part of the foundation still remains and an old inhabitant of the country informed me that he remembered a considerable part of it standing.
The same individual pointed out to me a circumstance tending rather to confirm the supposition that the building was of some height, and had remained for many years uninhabited, except by birds. The earth about the foundation, particularly that within it, is of a very rich nature and full of small bones, apparently those of birds. It is a Trigonometrical Station. Kilcreg fort has nothing remarkable about it.
Charter School
Near the parish church there is a Charter School where sixty female children used to be maintained and educated until the age of fourteen, when they were bound apprentices to such persons of good character as might require their services. The Government having lately decided that no more Parliamentary grants should be made for these schools, except for the education of such children as were still at them, this establishment will, of course, soon be at an end.
The memoirs are dated 7th July, 1831, and are signed by Lieutenant T. C. Robe, Royal Artillery.