Portrush and the Antrim Coast - Ireland 2014 - page 585

Cost and Hours: £5.60 trail and bridge fee, pay at hut beside parking lot, coffee shop
and WCs near parking lot; March-Oct daily 9:30-18:00, June-Aug until 19:00; Nov-Feb
10:00-14:30; tel. [phone], www.nationaltrust.org.uk .
Nearby: If you have a car and a picnic lunch, don't miss the terrific coastal viewpoint
rest area one mile steeply uphill and east of Carrick-a-Rede (on B-15 to Ballycastle). This
grassy area offers one of the best picnic views in Northern Ireland (picnic tables but no
WCs). Feast on bird's-eye views of the rope bridge, nearby Rathlin Island, and the not-so-
distant Island of Mull in Scotland.
▲ Dunluce Castle
These romantic ruins, perched dramatically on the edge of a rocky headland, are a testi-
mony to this region's turbulent past. During the Middle Ages, the castle resisted several
sieges.Butonastormynightin1639,dinnerwasinterruptedashalfofthekitchenfellinto
the sea and took the servants with it (Ireland's first fast food?). That was the last straw for
the lady of the castle. The countess of Antrim packed up and moved inland, and the castle
“began its slow submission to the forces of nature.” While it's one of the largest castles