GLENCLOY

THE GLEN OF THE DYKES (OR SWORD)

 This glen is shaped like a sword and sweeps out to the sea at  Carnlough and takes its name from the many stone ditches and white rocks around the fields in the upper glen and on Garron mountain.  Its white chalk quarries on the hillsides lead to the little stone ditched fields and grassy slopes that capture the eye of the camera and painter.

Keep an eye out for the Stone  gate pillars with their conical  tops and a few scattered here and there with flat tops so the fairies could dance on them.

Its most distinctive feature is the " White Arch " over the coast road near the harbour.

Archaeological excavations at Bay Farm have uncovered evidence of Neolithic occupation (around 4000 B.C.) 

Doonan Fort (Little Fort) with its flat topped mound occupied about 1200 years ago is about 2 miles west of Carnlough and Dungallan Fort about 2 miles north of Carnlough are Norman mottes. 

Drumnasle Waterfalls, further  to the north are approached by a passage named "The Goats Parlour" and at the end of this path is Tubberdoney a well which is believed to cure eye related problems.

Drumnasole ("The ridge of light") House was built by Francis Turnley in 1808 and is still in the possession of the Turnley family. On the great headlands of Drumnasole the Antrim Scots communicated by beacon fires to their kinsmen across the Sea of Moyle.
 Hidden from the road is Garron Tower and was built as a summer residence by Frances Anne, Marchioness of Londonderry. She had inherited this part of the Antrim estates from her mother, Anne Katherine MacDonnell, Countess of Antrim.  The Tower and grounds were purchased by McNeill's Hotel in Larne in 1915 and were acquired by the Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor in 1950 for use as a boarding school for boys. 

The reef at Ringfad, one mile north of Carnlough was where a ship called the Enterprise of Lynn was wrecked in 1827. The event is commemorated in a local ballad.

The  harbour in Carnlough was built by the Marchioness of Londonderry around 1850. Limestone continued to be exported from there until 19455 when the Glencloy quarries closed down. The Eglinton Lime Company of Glenarm used the harbour for several years until the late fifties when silting became a problem. The harbour today is now used by yachts and pleasure boats.


Farming and the tourist industry provide the main sources of income.  Boats for hire, Caravan park close to the beach,  fishing and panoramic views over the glen and the Scottish coast.
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