CULFEIGHTRIN,
or COOLFAYTON, a parish, in the barony of CAREY, county
of ANTRIM, and province of ULSTER,
½ a mile (E.) from Ballycastle
; containing 5012 inhabitants.
This
parish, which is also called Carey, from Castle Carey
or Kerragh, which gave name to the barony, was the scene of a
sanguinary conflict that took place between the forces of Mac Quellan
and those of Sorley Boy Mac Donnell, who encamped on the plains
of Bonamargy, on the 4th of July, 1569. This battle, by which
the Mac Donnells obtained possession of the castles and estates
of the Mac Quellans, is described as having continued throughout
the whole vale of Glensbesk, of which every yard was fiercely
contested, and nearly the entire surface strewed with the slain. The
victory was at length determined in favour of the Mac Donnells, and
the fate of Mac Quellan was finally decided on the mountains of Aura,
on the 13th of the same month ; Shane O'Dennis O'Nial fell in
this battle, and his cairn or tumulus is still shewn near Cushendun.
The
parish which is bounded on the north by the Atlantic ocean, comprises,
according to tile Ordnance survey, all area of 26,338 statute acres,
including 49 acres under water. The surface is mountainous ; the entire
mountain of Carey, and the promontories of Fair Head, the
most northern part of Ireland, and Tor Point being within the
parish. the biggest spot is Carnlea, which, according to the
same surveys is 1253 feet above the sea. The system of agriculture is
improving, but there are very large tracts of waste land, among which
is the extensive mountain of Carey, covered with heath ; the only profit
from it is the peat or turf carried from its bogs for fuel : it is well
stocked with grouse. The lower grounds are well cultivated, and the
townland of Murloch, which is an inland continuation of the bold
and craggy promontory of Fair Head, is extremely fertile, producing
an abundance of corn and excellent pasturage.
The
collieries, generally known by the name of the Ballycastle mines,
which were extensively worked about the middle of the last century,
are in this parish, but were discontinued in 1833 : it is supposed that
the mines are exhausted, the workmen, on penetrating inland from the
face of the promontory, for a distance of from a quarter to half a mile,
having been stopped by a whin-dyke which here crosses the country, and
though experimental shafts have been sunk on the other side of the dyke,
lower than the levels previously wrought, no coal has been found : it
is, however, conjectured that this mineral a could be found by sinking
under the former levels or beneath the surface of the sea. There are
fine quarries of freestone, which are extensively worked, affording
employment to a considerable number of persons ; also , valuable mines
of coal under the promontory of Fair Head, and at Murloch; the former
have never been worked, and the working of the latter has been discontinued
for some years. The road from Belfast to the Giants' Causeway,
along the shore, formerly led over the dreary mountain of Carey, where,
for nearly ten miles, not. a single habitation was to be seen. The royal
military road is now in course of formation, if by means of which that
mountain will be avoided, or its difficulty obviated, and the baronies
of Carey and Glenarm will be united by a splendid viaduct thrown across
the romantic valley of Glendale. Great preparations have already
been made by levelling the hills and the draining of bogs and lakes
; the whole line of road for 8 miles through this parish is entirely
new.
The
scenery is boldly diversified, including the stupendous rocks of Glendun,
the lakes of Cranagh, and Torr Point and Fair Head,
in the crags of which eagles build their nests.
Within
the limits of the parish are Churchfield, the residence of T.
Casement, Esq. ; Cushendun House, of Edm. A. M'Neill,
Esq. ; Cottage, of Major M'Aulay; Glenmona,
of M. Harrison, Esq. ; and a cottage residence of Gen. O'Neill.
At
Tor Point and Cushendun are coast-guard stations, which are two of the
eight that form the district of Ballycastle.
The
living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese
of Connor, and in the patronage of the Bishop ; the rectory
was attached to the Chancellorship of Connor from the year 1600 till
1831, when, on the death of Dr. Trail, the late chancellor, it became
a separate consolidated rectory and vicarage under Bishop Mant's act.
The tithes amount to £350 : there is neither glebe house nor glebe.
The church, a neat edifice, try the later English style, was erected
in 1830, on the site of the ancient structure, by a loan of £600
from the late be Board of First Fruits. It is in contemplation to erect
a chapel of ease at Cushendun, now
a fashionable watering place, at the eastern extremity of the parish,
and seven miles distant from the mother church, which is situated at
the opposite extremity.
In
the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district,
comprising also the Grange of Innispollan,
and containing two chapels ; that in Culfeightrin is at Carey,
near the church.
An
excellent school-house was built at Bonamargy, near the bridge,
by Alexander McNeil, Esq. ; and there is also a school at Cushendun,
chiefly supported by the resident gentry of the neighbourhood. About
180 children are educated in four private schools. On the bay of Cushendun
are some fine remains of Castle Carey.
