New Rotary Club for Ballycastle
It is a long time since we welcomed a new Rotary Club to District. At the inaugural club meeting District Governor Wes Armstrong welcomed the club members to the “Family of Rotary” and wished everyone success for the future. Credit must go to the enthusiastic folk of Ballycastle and to Rotarians Frank Arnold (Banbridge), Richard Dickson (Ballymoney), and Tony McMinn (Cookstown) for the marvellous effort they made in co‑ordinating the new clubʼs formation. The Rotary Club of Ballycastle meets every Tuesday at 7:00 pm in the Central Wine Bar, Ann St. Ballycastle.
Some facts about Ballycastle
Ballycastle (from Irish: Baile an Chaistil, meaning "town of the castle") is a small rural seaside town placed on the most north‑easterly tip of county Antrim, Northern Ireland surrounded with breath‑taking beauty and steeped in cultural history. Ballycastle is best known for the 'Ould Lammas Fair', probably the largest of its kind in Ireland with its 'dulse' and 'yellowman'. Ballycastle is the perfect central location from which to organise day trips. Go west along the Causeway coast to Kinbane, to the Carrick‑a‑rede Rope Bridge, to Ballintoy, to Dunseverick, to Portbraddon, to the Giant's Causeway, and the Bushmills Distillery. Go east through the Glens of Antrim to Cushendall, Cushendun, Glenariff, Glenann, Glencorp, Glenballyeamon, Glendun, Glenarm. Go north to Mull of Kintyre, Fairhead, Murlough Bay, Rathlin Island to enjoy some true wildlife, fishing and diving or just enjoy the warmth of the town and its people. Ballycastle is the ideal holiday destination for the family or explorer with a variety of activities and accommodation to suit the weekend break or summer holiday.
£3,000 Never Tasted So Good!
Club members have already held membership recruitment and fund raising events –a hugely successful Charity Breakfast with more than £3000 raised in support of Good Morning Ballycastle. (GMB) The sum raised is a testament to the high regard in which GMB is held in the local community, as one GMB member put it, “This money has saved our bacon!”
The club then focused their fund raising spotlight on the highly esteemed Shelter Box Appeal. Through the generosity of new members Tom and Eimar Mullan (Owners, Thyme and Co.), a Shelterbox was on display in their Quay Rd. premises, demonstrating the ability of Rotarians to support causes not only on a local level, but also on an international scale. Over the summer, Club members have a programme of varied events planned (both informative and perhaps more importantly, social!). They meet every Tuesday at 7:00 pm in the Central Wine Bar, Ann St. Ballycastle –why not come along and join us. New faces are most welcome!
The town has a beach, and views across to Rathlin Island and the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. The town is at the northern mainland limit of the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Ballycastle is also famous for its Lammas Fair, which is held every year on the last Monday and Tuesday of August. Ballycastle is the home of the Corrymeela Community.
Famous People ∙ Hugh Boyd is seen as the founding father of Ballycastle. He substantially developed the town from 1730's onwards from a small seaside hamlet. See more about Hugh Boyd here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYBAovrhTeM&feature= player_embedded#at=65 Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien, His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, Primate of Scotland, member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and a member of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People and the President of the Bishopsʼ Conference of Scotland, was born here 17 March 1938. Sir Roger Casement 1864–1916, was an Irish patriot, poet, revolutionary and nationalist and spent part of his youth in Magherintemple House, in Carey. Irish folk‑singer and musician David McWilliams lived in Ballycastle for many years before his death in 2002. Overlooking the harbour there is a monument to Guglielmo Marconi whose employees made the world's first commercial wireless telegraph transmission between Ballycastle and the East Lighthouse on Rathlin Island. Bishop Michael Dallat, (1925–2000), the former Titular Bishop of Thala, former Auxiliary Bishop of The Diocese of Down and Connor and former Principle of St. Mary's University College, Belfast, was born and raised in Ballycastle and uncle to club member Peter Dallat. Bishop Donal Lamont, 1911–2003, Emeritus Bishop of Mutare, Zimbabwe was born in Ballycastle. He was a leading figure opposing the Rhodesian government. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. Author C. S. Lewis holidayed in Ballycastle for many years during the time of his writing of the Chronicles of Narnia series.
Antrim senior hurlers Cormac Donnelly, Ryan McGarry, and Neal McAuley live in Ballycastle.
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