Cushendall Voyage Tips and guide

Cushendall is a village historically in County Antrim in Northern Ireland; those counties are no longer units of government so it's nowadays part of Causeway Coast and Glens District, with a population of 1200 in 2021. Its name Cois Abhann Dalla means "foot of the River Dall". Together with Cushendun to the north and Waterfoot to the south, it's the main base for exploring five of the Nine Glens of Antrim: Glenballyeamon, Glenaan, Glencorp, Glendun and (most scenic, and most touristy) Glenariff.

55°6′0″N 6°6′0″W

Map of Cushendall

By road from Belfast the quick route is M2 / A26 to Ballymena then A43 through the hills. A scenic alternative, especially from Larne ferry port, is to follow the coast road through Glenarm and Carnlough.

Ulsterbus 150 runs from Ballymena (for trains from Belfast) to Rathkenny, Cargan, Parkmore, Glenariff, Cushendall (45 min) and Cushendun. There are 6 M-F and 3 on Saturday.

Bus 162 runs four times M-Sa from Larne to Glenariff and Carnlough.

The main roads have a sparse bus service, and you need your own wheels to explore the glens.

• 55.0801-6.06431 Curfew Tower is the central landmark of Cushendall, a sturdy pink sandstone turret erected by Francis Turnly circa 1817 "for the confinement of idlers and rioters." He'd made his fortune with the East India Company and the design supposedly reflects those he'd seen out east. The context was that both Revolutionary and Napoleonic France had been defeated, but post-war civil unrest was growing, such as the Luddite movement, and Ireland was effectively under martial law for the first half of the 19th century. The tower contains a dungeon but it's not clear if any curfew-breaker was ever cooped up within; perhaps it had a salutary deterrent effect. In the 1990s the musician Bill Drummond of KLF famously burned £1 million but found enough left over to buy the tower, and set it up to house an artist-in-residence programme.

• 55.062-6.0912 Glenballyeamon is the glen rising southeast from Cushendall. A lane winds up it, eventually joining A43 the Glenariff Road out of Waterfoot. This crosses the moor southeast and descends towards Ballymena through Glenravel, sometimes considered as a tenth of the Nine Glens.
• 55.093-6.1013 Glenaan branches off A2 a mile northeast of Cushendall. The name means "glen of the tomb" referring to Ossian's Grave, a Neolithic court tomb on the hillside. In legend Ossian or Oisín is a warrior poet, son of Finn McCool who built the Giant's Causeway. He marries a spirit queen and resides in Tir na nÓg for what he thinks is 3 years but is actually 300, and his mortal years catch up when he returns. Somehow he's contrived to die and be buried in multiple spots, and Glenaan is one of the contenders. Most of the legends and poems of Ossian were notoriously fabricated in 1761-63, so maybe what's really interred here is the literary reputation of the culprit James Macpherson.
• 55.0921-6.05014 Layd Church is all that's left of a medieval parish church. It remained in use until 1790. Tiveragh Hill is the scenic lookout on the nearby cliffs.
• 55.103-6.0855 Glencorp is the glen connecting Cushendall and Cushendun. It's traversed by Tromra Road the modern A2 and the old highway now called Ballybrack Rd. Its name means "glen of bodies" but there isn't a graveyard or known battle site, so the origin of the name is unknown.
• 55.125-6.0436 Cushendun is the next village north, at the foot of Glendun, one of the Nine Glens. Carra Castle at the north end of the village is the crumbling ivy-clad ruin of a 14th-century tower-house. The caves on the shore south of the river are just small gullies at the base of the cliffs.
• 55.113-6.1297 Glendun is named for its peat-laden river. A narrow lane winds up it; Ronan's Way is a 3.4 mile hiking loop onto the hillside. The lane joins Glenaan Road at the head of the valley.
• 55.145-6.0418 Altagore Cashel along Torr Road is a ringfort with sturdy stone walls. These were common in the Iron Age, but Altagore is probably later, say 600-1000 AD.
• See Ballycastle for Torr Head and Fair Head further up Torr Road, and for the two northern glens of Glentaisie and Glenshesk.
• Red Bay Castle is the stump of a medieval turret south edge of Cushendall just before Waterfoot. It was rebuilt and destroyed on several occasions, finally by Cromwell in 1652.
• 55.06-6.0619 Waterfoot is the village at the foot of Glenariff: see below for the forest park. There's pubs and B&Bs in the village.
• Ardclinis Church is an overgrown ruin, probably 13th century, on A2 a couple of miles east of Waterfoot. It's the source of the beautiful Ardclinis Crozier, now in the National Museum in Dublin: there's a copy in St Patrick & St Bridgid's Roman Catholic Church in Waterfoot.
• 55.054-5.98110 Hidden village of Galboly is on the hillside further east of Waterfoot, reached by a steep track from A2. This farming village was never connected by utilities or tarmac roads. It was abandoned in the 1950s, though a Trappist monk spent his last years here to 2013.
• See Larne for the two southern glens of Glenarm and Glencloy.

• Cushendall Golf Club is on Shore Rd north side of the village. It's nine holes, so 18 holes off blue tees is 4379 m, par 63.
• Cushendall Sailing & Boating Club are in Red Bay south end of the village. They organise lessons for all levels of ability (minimum age 8), fun sailing and races.
• 55.0103-6.120561 Glenariff Forest Park, Glenariffe Rd BT44 0QX. Daily 8AM-dusk. Glenariff is the most touristy of the Antrim Glens; it's traversed by A43 but the forest park gets you away from the main road. The forest is mostly planted. Various walking trails, most popular is the 3 mile Waterfall Walkway, from the car park you descend steps and boardwalk to the waterfall in the gorge. There's a caravan park Mar-Oct but no campsite. Car £5.  (updated Apr 2026)
• Heart of the Glens Festival is held over a week in August.
• Glens Of Antrim Féis is a Celtic festival in Waterfoot in October.

• Eurospar is the convenience store in Cushendall, on the main road and open daily 7AM-10PM.
• There's an ATM in the filling station on the main road.

• Harry's mainly serves seafood and has an alcohol licence. It's at 10 Mill St, open daily noon-8:30PM.
• Cafe Cova is at 6 Shore Rd, open W-M 9AM-4PM.
• plus pizza and Chinese takeaways.

• Two pubs in Cushendall are side-by-side on Bridge St: McMullen's Central Bar and Lurig Bar.
• McCollam's Bar (Johnny Joe's) is round the corner on Mill St, across from Harry's restaurant.
• Saffron Bar is in Glenariff village.
• Mary McBride's is in Cushendun and has food.

• 55.076-6.05461 Cushendall Caravan Park, 62 Coast Road BT44 0QW, ☏ +44 28 2177 1699. Council-run site open Apr-Oct for tourers and campers. They also have camping cabins.  (updated Apr 2026)
• Glendale B&B, 46 Coast Road BT44 0RX (200 m north of caravan park), ☏ +44 7716 246587. Welcoming spacious B&B south edge of village. (updated Apr 2026)
• Village B&B, 18 Mill St BT44 0RR, ☏ +44 28 2177 2366. Friendly B&B in a 1780 townhouse, bikers welcome and they have a secure bike-yard. (updated Apr 2026)
• Riverside B&B is next door at 14 Mill St.
• McNaughton Guestrooms are next to McMullan's Bar at 5 Bridge St.

As of April 2026, Cushendall and its approach roads have 4G from EE, Orange and Vodafone, and 5G from O2, but there are many dead patches.

• Ballycastle is a seaside resort with ferries to Rathlin Island.
• The coast west of Ballycastle has the big tourist sites of Carrick-a-Rede Bridge, Giant's Causeway and Bushmills.
• Larne is an ugly industrial ferry port but has surprising attractions nearby, such as The Gobbins.
• The ferry from Larne lands you in Stranraer, for transport to Ayr and Glasgow.