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The chief rivers are the Bann, 95 miles long, flowing from Lough Neagh (the largest lake in the British Isles) into the Atlantic Ocean near Coleraine; the Main, running nearly parallel, but in the opposite direction, and the Bush. There are many peat bogs. At the north-east of the county is the fine headland of Benmore, more often called Fair Head; thence along the northern coast almost to Portrush the cliffs are lofty and precipitous, often inaccessible on the sea side. Beyond Portrush they are less steep and high. There are salt mines near Carrickfergus, and in other parts of the country are rich beds of iron ore. Flax, oats, etc., are grown, and the manufacture of linen in the chief industry.
Antrim is rich in romantic associations and stories and has seen much warfare in the past; ruined castles abound, as indeed they do nearly everywhere in Ireland.
It may be noticed that the thatch of the cottages, especially in the neighbourhood of the Giant's Causeway, where the coast is fully exposed to northerly gales, has to be heavily weighted with big stones and covered with a network of straw ropes to withstand the fury of the wind. Portrush no doubt owes it singularly bracing climate to this open situation. The air is pure, for it blows over open sea, and is so brine-laden that trees do not grow at all in the neighbourhood.
The east coast of Antrim, on the other hand, is sheltered from the fiercest winds, the climate is milder and more relaxing, and the vegetation, wherever encouraged, luxuriant.
Neither in Donegal nor Antrim is the cold ever excessive. Lough Neagh was once frozen in an exceptional year, but the average temperature is higher in winter and lower in summer than in England. Both the counties have a rather higher rainfall.
Some of the rivers are dammed in August and September to steep the flax, of which, at certain seasons, bundles may be seen drying in the fields. Great bleaching grounds are also to be seen on which long lengths of linen are spread, looking in the distance like a great snowy covering.
The flax, when in flower, is remarkably pretty, forming waving fields of blue.
The only important island off these coasts in Rathlin, or more correctly, Raghery or Rachre, which is connected with the sad story of Deirdre, as related in the Story of the Sons of Usnach. Briefly the story goes that Deirdre was to marry King Conor, but declared that the man she loved must have hair as black as raven, cheeks as red as blood, and a body as white as snow. This, she was told, Naesi, the son of the Usnach, had. They met in secret, loved each other, and, in fear of King Conor, escaped in the night secretly to Scotland. King Conor begged for the help of the three fine sons of Usnach, so they were tempted back to Ireland and there treacherously surrounded. A spy saw Naesi and Deirdre playing chess, but she was so lovely that the king longed for her still and, to obtain her, killed the sons of Usnach, Deirdre dying in their grave according to one saga; another version says she became the wife of Conor. The longer version is in the Belfast Museum. It has been noticed in connection with these ancient poems that the Celts have often wonderful memories. Dr. Hyde mentions having thirteenth-century poems related to him that had been handed down from generation to generation in an almost unaltered form. One of these old writers speaks naively of his great surprise on visiting England to find food being bought and sold.
Ancient place-names are very interesting and remarkably numerous in Ireland, such as bally (town), kill (church), rath, dun, fort, etc. It has been calculated that there are over 10,000 of these and similar place-names, used either as affixes or prefixes in Irish names.
Angling
Antrim is not so good for fishermen as Donegal. Lough Neagh, the Bann (the chief river running into Lough Neagh), and its tributaries are mostly free, as are also the rivers at Ballycastle, the Glenshesk, etc. The Main river has good trout; the Ballinderry, salmon and lake trout. Ballymena is a good centre for fishing in the river Braid and over rivers near. Ballycastle has several fishable rivers and sea-fishing. Salmon fishing is carried on at several places along the northern caost, Portmoond, Carrick-a-rede, etc. See How and Where to Fish in Ireland, by Hi Regan. A salmon licence costs £1 1s. A year, and holds good from March 1 to October 31. The eel fishing at Toome on the Bann is a valuable local industry, and there is considerable fishing on Lough Neagh.
The principal fishing resorts in Co. Antrim and Co. Derry are: -
Antrim, for Sixmilewater and Lough Neagh. The fishing in the former has been greatly improved lately; between Antrim and Lough Neagh it is preserved.
Randalstown (2 miles from Lough Neagh), for trout fishing (good in the Main; salmon fishing (preserved) in the autumn.
Toomebridge, for the river Bann. Large trout, perch and pike in quantities. Boats reasonable.
Castle Dawson for the Moyala river and Draperstown for its lower reaches – small trout.
Maghera for the river Bann, some little way off, good trout and salmon fishing, the latter best in autumn. Also river Claudy close by for trout.
Kellswater for river Main (nearest hotel, Ballymena).
Kilrea for the Bann, close by, excellent salmon and trout fishing, perhaps the best in Ulster. Licences reasonable; hotel, also lodgings by the river.
Garvagh and Aghadowey. River Agivey, plenty of small trout.
Ballymena is one of the best fishing centres. There are several rivers within reach, with good-sized trout, such as the Braid, Main and Clough rivers (Clough station on Parkmore line), also the Kellswater.
Ballymoney for trout streams and the river Bann.
Limavady and Dungiven, for the river Roe. Good-sized trout, white trout and salmon the autumn.
Londonderry is within easy reach of trout and salmon fishing on the rivers Faughan, Finn, Derg, Foyle and Mourne. There is good trout-fishing on the river Bush, but permission must be obtained from the Clerk of Petty Sessions or the agent of the estate.
Ballycastle, as already mentioned, is a good centre for fishing in the rivers Carey, Glenshesk, etc., for white trout, also for salmon and sea fishing. Cars and boats are reasonable.
At Cushendun the river Glendun has fair-sized trout, and Cushendall is also good for trout. The Glenariff may be fished from Parkmore to Waterfoot.
Larne, for the Larne water and the Glenwherry river.
Generally speaking, all this fishing is free. Salmon licences can usually be obtained from the postmasters. The season for both salmon and trout is from March 1 to October 31. A few begin on February 1 and some close on September 30.
In the Inishowen Peninsula, Co. Donegal, there is fishing at Buncrana, both salmon and trout, sea and brown, in the Castle and Mill rivers and the Meendoran, Mintiagh and Inch lakes; also sea fishing. The stationmaster at Buncrana will provide boats for Inch lake at 2s. A day.
Clonmany, for the Owenerk River, salmon and trout, free, and for the Meendoran and Mintiagh lakes.
Carndonagh, for several rivers, salmon and trout, free to all; also Loughs Fad and Finn, about 4 miles away, plenty of trout, free.
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Antiquities
Antiquarian interests are not wanting, for the north-east of Ireland is rich in prehistoric remains, such as earthworks, cairns, stone circles etc., as well as in those of a later period. Of Pagan remains there are ancient raths or forts, the ramparts enclosing a considerable circular space, and often having underground chambers or souterrains. These were used as places of defence and as hiding-places for treasure by the chiefs and kings of old; some were inhabited even down to comparatively recent times. These souterrains, or underground dwellings (locally called “coves”), are common. They are entered by a long passage, the entrance to which is often carefully concealed. The only two-storied one may be seen near Antrim, others are at Stranocum, Ballycastle, etc. There are several crannogs, or lake dwellings, at Ballymena, the summit of Benmore, etc., nor must the so-called Ossian's grave be forgotten. Pillar stones may also be seen, as well as some twelve cromlechs of remote antiquity in various places in this county; these are the sepulchral monuments of some ancient race, and are found all through southern and western Europe. There are many remains of prehistoric man – not of the earliest age, but of the Neolithic stone period. Flints and stone arrow-heads, sometimes unpolished, have been, and still are, found in the raised beaches of Larne, and also at Portrush, Cushendun and Carnlough. No remains of the older cave mammalia are found in the north of Ireland; teeth of the mammoth have been found, and the great Irish deer once lived here, also the red deer, the native long-legged pig, and other now extinct species. Splendid flints are found in the limestone that crops out below the basalt in many places, probably enough in old times to supply all Ireland with stone weapons; and at Larne, Portrush and Bannmouth, scrapers, arrow-heads and celts have been found.
Of more modern times there are the ruins of sundry castles and abbeys, most of them in picturesque situations, and there is the fine round tower of Antrim. The Irish name for round tower is cloic-theach, or bell-tower. That at Antrim is known to be among the oldest, being built of rough undressed stone, though the circular shape is well kept, and it is still one of the most perfect. The tower inclines inward gradually, being wider at the base than it is higher up. Another may be seen near Ballycastle, and one on an island in Lough Neagh. These round towers are Christian monuments. They served as watch-towers, places of safety for religious and other previous objects, and as belfries. Of the ruined castles, the most picturesque is at Dunluce. Carrickfergus was in its day one of the most important of the many Anglo-Norman fortresses, for Donegal and Antrim were long the centres of great and prolonged, but hopeless, struggles against the English supremacy, the north of Ireland remaining unsubdued for many years longer than the rest of the country.
One point is worth remembering: in this north-eastern tour we lose the pure native Irish for the most part, and the people, in accent, speech and character, are widely different from the Irish of the south and west. They have largely intermarried with Scotch settlers, as may be recognized by their broad Scotch accent, though the glens remain more Celtic. There was no forced settlement here, but the coast is so near to England and Scotland that there has been much natural and peaceful intermixture by marriage and by migration to and fro. In parts of Donegal, Irish is still spoken – with this exception, we are not likely to hear a word of Irish on all this northern tour; while Derry, owing to the Plantation of Ulster, is the least Irish of any county in Ireland. An Irish college has, however, been established near Falcarragh, in Co. Donegal.
The old Irish slipe or slide car, a primitive vehicle once in general use, is still seen at Island Magee and other parts of Antrim and perhaps in Donegal, carrying turf from the mountain bogs, where an ordinary cart would be useless. It is simply a strong willow basket fixed on two shafts. The wheel car, with solid wooden wheels fixed to a revolving axle, is nearly as primitive, and is also still used in the north and west. The curraghs, or canvas boats, in use for hundreds of years, are still common in Donegal. They are wonderfully light and bouyant.
Historical Note
Many references to points of historical interest in connection with the places visited in this tour will be found under the headings of the various towns, especially as regards Londonderry and its famous siege. In this introductory note it is only necessary to say that from the earliest times Antrim was the scene of many battles, as it was also during the Anglo-Irish wars. For some thousand years there was always an Ard Ri, or High King, for 500 years a descendant of Niall of the nine hostages – till Brian Boru's time. This northern part of Ireland was, in old days, the kingdom of Dalriada. The O'Neill family were the kings of Ulster.
All Irish development was arrested by the Norman invasions for three centuries. Armagh was invaded by Danes seventeen times in 200 years. The early Irish were not builders, and there are few remains of buildings of the earliest times. Probably even their palaces were just wattled buildings; but there are stone forts still, especially in the south and south-west. The prehistoric burial-places at Newgrange, near Drogheda, date probably from 800 B.C., and the Grianan of Aileach may be even more ancient, though it has been restored and rebuilt.
For three centuries in early Christian days Ireland was the asylum of the higher learning, which took sanctuary here from the uncultured states of Europe. Armagh, the religious capital of Christian Ireland, was then the metropolis of civilization. “Charlemagne sent his warriors to Ireland to be educated: Greek, elsewhere absolutely vanished, was read and cherished here.... Ireland possessed a literature as rich and cultivated as that of any civilized people, but the Danes and Saxons destroyed all before them.” (English Studies, M. Darmestater).
The Celtic crosses date mostly from about 900 to 1100 A.D. County Donegal is rich in its associations with the rise of Christianity.
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Newspaper report on Guildford Bomb
