DUNLUCE,
or DOONLISS, a parish, in the barony of LOWER DUNLUCE, county
of ANTRIM, and province of ULSTER,
6 miles (N.N.E.) from Coleraine
(county Derry), on the road to the Giants' Causeway; containing
3605 inhabitants.
This parish,
which gives name to the barony, was anciently called Portramon,
and distinguished as the residence of the celebrated chieftain Mac
Quillan, who was lord of a castle of which the original foundation
is not precisely known. Mac Quillan, who was brave, hospitable, and
improvident, unwarily suffered the Scots around him to increase in strength,
till at length they expelled him from all his possessions; and Sorley
Boy, brother of James Mac Donnell, having obtained possession
of the district called the Glynnes made himself master also of
this place. But Sir John Perrot, the English lord-deputy, assaulted
the intruder, and after a vigorous resistance, drove him from the castle,
in which he placed Sir Peter Carey, whom he thought to
be a man of the English pale, as governor, with a garrison of fourteen
soldiers. Sir Peter, who was in reality one of the Carews of
the north, brought around him some of his own country and kindred, and
unknown to the deputy discharged the English soldiers; two of his garrison,
however, confederating with the party of Mac Donnell, drew up fifty
of them by night into the castle, and these having taken possession
of the fortress by surprise, attacked and slew the governor and a few
of his companions. On this event, which took place in 1585, the lord-deputy
despatched to the assault of the castle an officer named Merriman,
who slew the two sons of James Mac Donnell, and Alexander,
the son of Sorley Boy, and who harassed the latter by driving
away the vast herds of cattle which were his only wealth, that he surrendered
Dunluce, and repaired to Dublin to make his submission, which was accepted;
and on condition of his fidelity to the English crown, and payment of
a tribute of cattle and hawks, be received a re-grant of all his possessions,
with the government of Dunluce castle. This family was afterwards ennobled
by the title of Earl of Antrim; and in 1642, Gen. Monroe,
commander of the Scottish army in Ulster, with a party of his forces,
paid a friendly visit to the Earl, by whom he was hospitably received;
but at the conclusion of the entertainment, Monroe gave the signal to
his armed followers, who instantly made the Earl prisoner and seized
the castle, and this act was followed soon afterwards by the seizure
of all his possessions.
The parish,
which is within a mile and a half of the Giants' Causeway, extends
for a considerable distance along the coast, and, according to the Ordnance
survey, comprises 9381 statute acres. The land is fertile and generally
in the highest state of cultivation; the system of agriculture is in
a very improved state; there is very little waste land, some excellent
pasturage, and a bog of about 500 acres. Limestone abounds and to the
west-ward of Dunluce castle are the White Rocks lime-works
the most extensive in the North of Ireland. There are numerous quarries
of basalt, and great quantities of flint are exported. Coal exists on
the estate of John Montgomery, Esq., but no mines have yet been
worked.
The principal
gentlemens seats are Benvarden, that of J. Montgomery, Esq.;
Seaport, of J. Leslie, Esq.; Bardyville,
of Sir F. W. Macnaghten, Bart.; and the Cottage of F.
D. Ward, Esq. .there are also some elegant sea-bathing lodges at
Ballintra.
The manufacture
of paper affords employment to 190 persons, who, with the aid of the
most improved machinery, are engaged in makinr the finer kinds of paper
for the English, Scotch, and home markets. A facility of conveyance
for the produce of the quarries and limeworks, and for the various sorts
of merchandise, is afforded by the small but commodious port of Ballintra.
A fair is held annually on Nov. 12th, and petty sessions for the district
every fort-night at Bushmills.
The living
is a consolidated rectory and vicarage, in the diocese
of Connor, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount
to £369. 4sh. 7d. The glebe-house was built by a gift of £400
and a loan of £300 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1812;
the glebe comprises 20 acres The church, a handsome edifice, situated
at the extremity of the parish, near Bushmills, was erected by
aid of a gift of £900 and a loan of £300. It from the same
Board, in 1821, on the site of an ancient church, which was a ruin in
1625.
In the
R.C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or parochial benefice
of Ballymoney; the chapel near Bushmills
is a very small edifice
There
is a place of worship for Presbyterians in connection with, the Synod
of Ulster, of the second class
About
80 children are taught in the public schools, of which the parochial
school is chiefly supported by the rector, and a female school was built
and endowed by Mrs. Montgomery. There are also three private
schools, in which are about 160 children and four Sunday schools.
A dispensary
was established at Bushmills in 1830, for the parishes of Dunluce,
Billy, and Dunseverick A loan fund
was established in 1828, for which purpose the late Hugh Montgomery,
Esq., gave £100.
The ruins
of Dunluce castle are remarkable for their extent and picturesque
appearance, especially when viewed from the shore immediately below;
the fortified parts occupy the summit of a rock projecting into the
sea, and separated from the adjacent cliffs by a deep chasm, over which
is an arch forming the only entrance, defended on one side by a wall
only 13 inches in thickness; there appears to have been a corresponding
wall in a parallel direction with the former, which together were probably
the parapets of the bridge. The domestic apartments and offices, of
which the remains are extensive, were situated on the main land, and
though at a distance appearing only as a massive rugged pile, upon a
nearer approach display characteristics of architectural beauty. Underneath
the castle is a natural cavern forming a nob1e apartment, the walls
and roof of which are of rude basalt. Near the castle is a very large
Danish camp Splendid specimens of opal, jasper, and cornelian are found
upon the shore. Dunluce gives the inferior title of Viscount to the
Earls of Antrim.
