Cushendall sits at the bottom of three valleys at the foot of a flat-topped mountain on the eastern shoulder of Antrim. The locals call it the Capital of the Glens. They are not really joking. There is one bigger town up the coast and one smaller down it, and Cushendall is the one with the chemist, the butcher, and the GAA pitch.
The village itself is small - four streets meeting at a red sandstone tower - but the country around it is the point. Lurigethan rears up behind the houses with a flat top like a table tipped sideways. Tievebulliagh sits behind that, the same hill that Neolithic people walked up to chip axe-heads off four thousand years ago. Down at the strand, the River Dall comes out of the glens and finds the sea.
Come for a wet weekend in October and the place reveals itself. Hill, glen, beach, pub, and back. The road north to Cushendun is two narrow miles of switchbacks called the Coast Road that the locals would prefer you took slowly. They are right.
Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.
The Curfew Tower has stood at the crossroads since 1817. Francis Turnly built it to lock up troublesome locals. It is now an artists' residency. Make of that what you will.
Stories & lore → 02 Three glensThree of the nine Glens of Antrim funnel down into the village. The River Dall takes the meltwater from all of them out to the sea at the strand.
Walks & outings → 03 Stone-age tradeTievebulliagh, the hill above the village, is one of the two known sources of porcellanite. Stone axes quarried here turn up in archaeological digs across Ireland and Britain.
Stories & lore →None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:
The session pub. Friday and Saturday nights, often Tuesday. Small front bar, a back room when needed, no bouncers and no lanyards. The McCollams have been at it for generations.
Named for the hill above the village. A Saturday-afternoon GAA pub. Pints, crisps, the usual.
Mill Street. Eat in the dining room, stay for a pint at the bar. The local stop for a sit-down meal that isn't a sandwich.
| Place | Type | € | Local note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harry's Restaurant | Bistro | ££ | Mill Street. Steaks, fish, a good Sunday lunch. Book it on a bank holiday or stand outside looking sad. |
| Gillan's Coffee Shop | Café | £ | Mill Street. Scones, soup, traybakes. The default morning stop for walkers coming off the Lurig path. |
| The Half Door | Café & deli | £ | Daytime food, sandwiches, decent coffee. Closes when it closes. |
| Place | Type | Local note | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cullentra House | B&B | On the hill outside the village. Big breakfast, big view down the glen to the sea. | |
| Glendale B&B | B&B | Walking distance from the Curfew Tower. Quiet, plain, well-run. | |
| Cushendall Caravan Park | Caravan park | Council-run. Right on the strand at the mouth of the Dall. Pitches and static vans, summer only. | |
The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.
Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.
There is no bad time. There are different times.
Glens green up. Glenariff falls run hard with the snowmelt. Light evenings come back fast in May.
Walk the Glens Festival opens June and the Heart of the Glens Festival fills the last week of August. Beach gets busy on a hot Sunday. Book ahead.
Hills go copper, the air sharpens, the McCollam sessions pick up again. The best six weeks of the year.
Coast Road north to Cushendun shuts in serious weather. Half the cafés close. The pubs do not.
If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.
The two miles between Cushendall and Cushendun were cut into the cliff in the 1830s and have not got any wider. Behind a slow caravan is where you belong.
It is doable and it is wrong. The Glens reward an evening pint and a wet morning walk. Stay the night.
There isn't any in the urban sense. There is a session in McCollam's and a fire in the Lurig. That is the offering.
The buses come for a reason. Go early or late and the waterfall walk is yours.
Belfast to Cushendall is 1h 15m via the M2 and A26, or 1h 45m the scenic way along the Antrim Coast Road. Take the long road at least once.
Translink Ulsterbus 150 from Ballymena, several times a day. Connects at Ballymena to trains from Belfast.
Nearest station is Ballymena - about 40 minutes inland. Then bus.
Belfast International is 1h 10m. Belfast City is 1h 20m.