Author: Kevin McGowan

The house is now gone, lying in hardfill somewhere on the north coast of Ireland after being demolished in 2020 to make way for the new £35million shared education facility that is to be built in its former grounds. But for many of us here in Ballycastle it will be our memories. My own memory of it is the red roof tiles and a lot of glass that was included in the building. It is of course Derganagh House. Another house in Ballycastle that had many stories to tell. The grounds of the house bordered much of the town of

Almost a forgotten family now in Ballycastle, the Belford’s were prominent characters in the civic life of the town. Their home and adjoining property still stands along the Quay Road of Ballycastle. [kmg1]  The most prominent family member in Ballycastle was William Henry Belford, with the family hailing from Co Cavan and a background in the Royal Irish Constabulary. The Belford family had roots in Ballyhaise, Co Cavan. Ballyhaise was a plantation that had been handed out through the Ulster Plantations to John Taylor of Cambridge.  It would even be what could be described as an estate village, where the

Stephen Clarke was born in Torglass to Daniel Clarke and Anne Mc Neill. He was one of at least four children, Hugh, Daniel, Mary, and Stephen. In my opinion there are more than these four as there are 16 years between Hugh and Stephen. Hugh would join the RIC which would be a common practice for young catholic men. By 1913, 86% of recruits were from the Catholic faith. In many large Catholic families of the time, it would not be unusual for some of the sons to join the police force or indeed the priesthood. The fact that Hugh

On Saturday 17th July 1917, Ballycastle was in war time mode. The war was in its third year at this stage and a sense of apathy was setting in around the country. That July would see the return to the town of Lance Corporal Samuel Hutcheson of the 12th Irish Rifles. His father, also Samuel, would live on Station Row now where the Ballycastle Cooperative now stands and would be renowned in the town as an Orangemen and an active member of the Ballycastle UVF. Three years previous he was subject to an attack on the Chapel Brae by members

As the Taymouth Castle was sinking to her final resting place beneath the cliffs of Torr, it would soon become apparent that this wouldn’t be the last of the bad news hitting the broadsheets in the days after the storm. Across the water two young Campbell brothers that were living on the Kildalton estate on Islay were looking out to sea and surveying the damage done by the storm the night before. On the horizon they would see a boat being violently thrown about by the breakers and the strong winds. The lads rushed to the shoreline and boarded a