The Causeway Coastal Route (2 November 2024)

Carrickfergus Castle


It was very damp when we departed for Derry/Londonderry, taking the Coastal route there.  Normally this would be done when going to the Giant’s Causeway but we had not managed to do so. 

 

The first stop was Carrickfergus Castle about 20 minutes out of Belfast.  It is a Norman castle that was built in 1147 on a rock that has fresh water available.  Over succeeding centuries it was much modified to become the fortress that it is today.  It was a central player in the wars of control of Ulster.  Initially it was the main centre of Ulster but eventually in the 1700 and 1800s the centre moved to Belfast. 


Halloween display in the Keep

 

We paid the small fee to have a look around.  It was interesting to go into a very different kind of castle to those we had visited in France.  The idea was the same but execution was different. 

 

In the main Keep which is the large tower they had banquet table set out for Halloween.  It was very cute.  It is apparently a big thing in Northern Ireland. 

 

We followed the road around the Antrim coast with only once going off course due to me reading a sign wrong.  It was a lovely drive and very pretty.  Bev compared it to the Kaikoura coast but for me it could not be more different. The Antrim coast is not quite as dramatic.  All along the way are little villages with whitewashed houses.  At one point we found people stopped along the road and it turned out there were dolphins or orca close into the shore.  Those marine mammals do provide an endless fascination to us for some reason. 

Our lunch stop

A library and postbox at Glenarm

 

A little further on we came upon a slightly larger village and as it was lunch time we drove into the village in hope of a café being open.  There was and we were able to get some soup and a piece of Victorian Sponge. 

 

The road went inland for a period and we climbed up into the bracken and away from the green fields that stretched up the sides of the hills.  It was quite a contrast.  On the northern coast there were dramatic cliffs and we ended up near the Giant’s Causeway. 

 

Our destination was Derry where we had booked into a hotel so that we would be closer to Trentagh where I was going to see if I could find the church my great grandparents had been married in. 

 

We arrived just as it was beginning to get dark.  The plan was to have dinner at the hotel but when we went to get some food we found that the restaurant was closed due to the chef being ill.  Fortunately over the road was a couple of takeaway places where we were able to get a pizza. 


Boat harbour Carrickfergus

Whitewashed houses in a green land

Coffee time next to the castle


Loved the colours



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