The Gobbins is a cliff-face path at
Islandmagee
Islandmagee () is a peninsula and civil parish on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Larne and Whitehead. It is part of the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area and is a sparsely populated rural ...
,
County Antrim
County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, on the Causeway Coastal Route.
It runs across bridges, past caves and through a tunnel, along The Gobbins cliffs (
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
: ''Gobán meaning "tip/point of land" or "headland"''). The cliffs are recognised for their rich birdlife, important geology and notable species.
The Gobbins was created by an Irish railway engineer called
Berkeley Deane Wise
Berkeley Deane Wise (2 October 1855, New Ross – 5 May 1909, Portrush) was an Irish people, Irish civil engineer who made a significant impact on the development of railways and tourism, particularly in Northern Ireland.
Early years
Berkeley ...
. He designed and built the path as a tourist attraction for the
Belfast and Northern Counties Railway Company. The path first opened to the public in 1902,
with visitors paying 6d
to enjoy a 'perfect marvel of engineering'. The Gobbins drew worldwide acclaim, with newspapers declaring that 'the varied beauty of this cliff path baffles all description'.
![Bridge and cliff at The Gobbins](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Bridge_and_cliff_at_The_Gobbins.JPG)
Thousands of people visited The Gobbins in the first few decades of the 20th century
– advertisements of the time declared 'the new cliff path along The Gobbins Cliffs, with its ravines, bore caves, natural aquariums ... has no parallel in Europe as a marine cliff walk'.
However, the railway company got into financial difficulties during the 1930s;
upkeep slipped and the path was closed in the run-up to World War II.
The Gobbins was briefly reopened by the
Ulster Transport Authority
The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland from 1948 until 1966.
Formation and consolidation
The UTA was formed by the Transport Act 1948, which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board (NIRTB ...
after the war but closed in 1954.
Several abortive attempts were made by government and individuals to restore the path.
From 2011-2015
Larne Borough Council
Larne Borough Council was a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymena Borough Council and Carrickfergus Borough Council in May 2015 under the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland to become Mid ...
led a project to reopen The Gobbins. A series of new bridges and galleries were constructed and installed during 2014–15. The work was funded by the European Union's
Interreg IVA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) and administered by the North East Partnership, Larne Borough Council and Ulster Garden Villages Limited.
The Gobbins was accessible to visitors from August 2015 by guided tour. Opening for the 2016 summer season was delayed until the end of April following storm damage to the approach path in January 2016 but further damage occurred in June 2016. The path re-opened on 30 June 2017. Car parking, a café, exhibition and visitor facilities for The Gobbins are provided by the visitor centre at nearby Ballystrudder.
History
Conception
The Gobbins was the brainchild of a pioneering Irish railway engineer called
Berkeley Deane Wise
Berkeley Deane Wise (2 October 1855, New Ross – 5 May 1909, Portrush) was an Irish people, Irish civil engineer who made a significant impact on the development of railways and tourism, particularly in Northern Ireland.
Early years
Berkeley ...
. Originally from
New Ross
New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It is located on the River Barrow, near the border with County Kilkenny, and is around northeast of Waterford. In 2016 it had a population of 8,040 people, making it the ...
, Wise served his apprenticeship working on the
railway line between Dublin and Wexford. At the age of just 22, he developed tunnels and bridges for one of the most challenging sections in the country, along the coast at
Bray Head
Bray Head ( ga, Ceann Bhré) is a hill and headland located in northern County Wicklow, Ireland, between the towns of Bray and Greystones. It forms part of the Wicklow Mountains and is a popular spot with hillwalkers. At the top of the head i ...
. This and other experiences helped give Wise the skills he needed to conceive his ultimate achievement – The Gobbins – just over 25 years later.
In 1888, Wise became the Chief Engineer of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway Company. The company already had a keen interest in tourism, thanks to the work of another pioneer, Railway Manager,
Edward John Cotton
Edward John Cotton (1 June 1829 – 14 June 1899) was an English accountant who became manager of the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway and, subsequently, the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway where he was influential in developing tourism in t ...
– one of the youngest ever Railway Managers in Britain and Ireland. Cotton arranged 'excursion trains' for every occasion
and made 3rd class tickets available from all stations
– opening up the possibility of travel and day trips for thousands of ordinary people.
![Blackhead Lighthouse - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Blackhead_Lighthouse_-_geograph.org.uk_-_326466.jpg)
Berkeley Deane Wise took this tourism endeavour to the next level, creating innovative new paid-for attractions that would encourage visitors to use the railway company's services. Within a year of starting at the 'Northern Counties', he had opened a series of paths and bridges at beautiful
Glenariff Glen – later adding a tearoom and shelters with coloured glass to view the waterfalls there. Just south of The Gobbins, Wise helped transform the tiny hamlet of
Whitehead into a premier holiday resort. He designed and built a bandstand, ladies and gents bathing boxes, a 'children's corner', a slipway and a pavilion with 500 seats.
Wise also built a new path along the coast from Whitehead to the lighthouse at Blackhead, overlooking the town, in 1892. To reach the lighthouse he added several bridges and a tunnel. Wise soon had ambitious plans for a much more elaborate path built on sheer cliffs a few miles to the north: The Gobbins was about to be born.
Original construction
![Berkeley Deane Wise at the Gobbins](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Berkeley_Deane_Wise_at_the_Gobbins.jpg)
Berkeley Deane Wise drew up a map of his planned path in 1902, showing a route. It would start near the village of Ballystrudder (a small laneway just off the 'Gobbins Road' is still called the 'Gobbins Path' as a consequence). The path would then run for a mile or more along an undulating section of cost, skirting farmers' fields before reaching the spectacular 'cliff section' where visitors would enjoy bridges, tunnels and caves. It is this last section which became so famous and which is accessible today (by guided tour, leaving from The Gobbins visitor centre). Wise's map listed a series of new names for features along the cliffs, which he planned for visitors to explore – like Sandy Cave, the Man O'War stack and Otter Cave.
[Berkeley Deane Wise (1902) 'The Gobbins' - copy of map filed under 'Islandmagee', Local Studies Collection, Ballymena Central Library, Libraries NI]
The first stretch of The Gobbins opened to the public in August 1902. First to explore its 'strange, fantastic forms' were members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
In June 1904, Wise hosted the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland (of which he was an esteemed member). Their Journal records some of the few surviving technical details of the bridges and other constructions on the original path:
"...the cliff section has necessitated a large number of bridges, varying from ten to thirty feet span… About mid way an isolated sea-stack occurs known as 'The Man-o'War', separated from the mainland by a chasm 65 feet wide…To span this a special bridge was designed by Mr Wise. The steel framework is 70 feet in length and is composed of longitudinal angles and bars with 12 elliptical stiffeners"
![The Tubular Bridge at The Gobbins](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/The_Tubular_Bridge_at_The_Gobbins.png)
The 'special bridge' the engineers were describing was the famous Tubular Bridge – which quickly became a symbol of The Gobbins.
Extension
When it first opened, the path stopped short of the 'Seven Sisters' caves.
But Wise's map shows he planned to continue building to Heddles' port and create an exit onto the 'county' road.
in 1905 he was granted money to extend The Gobbins by the railway company – which had become part of the larger Midland Railway Company (MR).
![Berkeley Deane Wise plaque, Whitehead - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Berkeley_Deane_Wise_plaque%2C_Whitehead_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1746685.jpg)
In June 1906 Wise fell ill, and his job was taken over by the company's Locomotive Engineer Bowman Malcolm. Further work was undertaken including blasting a tunnel at the rear of 'Trump Cave', and building the supports for a suspended walkway inside another cave.
Additional steps were cut, bridges built and ironwork for handrails installed at different points along the cliffs.
An extension was duly opened in 1908, but disaster struck in the last week of May that year: a major landslip broke one of the bridges and blocked the path. The company gave orders that the path was to be maintained 'as far as it went', but that no further work was to be undertaken. There would be no new bridges built at The Gobbins for over 100 years. Berkeley Deane Wise died in May 1909. He would have been disappointed to know that his plans were never fully completed, but nonetheless, The Gobbins was recognised as his crowning achievement.
The first era of The Gobbins
![View from cave at The Gobbins](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/View_from_cave_at_The_Gobbins.png)
The Gobbins became a must-see for tourists and locals alike – including many visitors from Britain who came via the steamer service to Larne and stayed there or in Whitehead.
Tourists could book trips to The Gobbins through their hotel, with each having certain days of the week for visiting with their own guide. Posters advertising The Gobbins were placed in Belfast tram carriages and at railway stations.
Day-trippers were encouraged to travel to Ballycarry railway station for The Gobbins. From there they could walk or hire a local 'Irish jaunting car' to get to the path itself.
The entrance to The Gobbins – then as now – was nicknamed Wise's Eye after the path's creator. An oval-shaped hole bored in the rock, it was manned by a railway company 'toll collector' from 10am to 5pm daily (including Sundays). Close to the entrance of the path two tearooms provided refreshments including strong tea, fried slices of ham, eggs, tomatoes, potato and soda bread, all of which were 'much appreciated' by visitors.
On summer days The Gobbins was 'busier than the footpath of
Royal Avenue
Royal Avenue is a street in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In the Cathedral Quarter in the heart of Belfast city centre, as well as being identified with the more recent Smithfield and Union Quarter, it has been the city's principal shopping thor ...
' – with visitors pushing to get past one another. Reviewers described an incredible experience:
"In many places the rocks rise to a height of two hundred feet, sometimes quite abruptly...every few steps a different view of cliff is disclosed. Surely there is something in the influence of the Irish climate which acts upon the rocks...The tints are softer and deeper...the very air is laden with a poetry…" ''"The Gobbins Cliff Path", The Sketch,17 December 1902''
'There is, in short, nothing like The Gobbins anywhere else in the world…' ''Fennell W.J. (1902), "The Gobbins Cliff Path - Visit of the British Association to Belfast"''
Decline of the first path at The Gobbins
The Gobbins required constant maintenance to cope with the impact of waves and storms.
Following the Great Depression and the steady rise of competition from road transport, the railway company got into financial difficulties – by 1938 the Northern Counties Committee was losing £19,000 a year.
![Wise's Eye](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Wise%27s_Eye.png)
The Gobbins was closed for a time in 1936,
then during the Second World War there was an even more acute shortage of manpower and finance. As a result, no upkeep was carried out, apart from painting the railings black to avoid them acting as a landmark for
German air-raids heading into Belfast.
After the war, The Gobbins was briefly reopened by the new Ulster Transport Authority, but closed in 1954.
Several attempts were made by government and individuals to restore the path.
Writer and filmmaker, John H. Lennon from Co Down was a particular champion.
However lack of finance and scepticism about tourist numbers in the face of the conflict in Northern Ireland frustrated these attempts. The first Tubular Bridge finally collapsed into the sea in May 1981.
The remains of the path continued to be explored by climbers and walkers. However the cliffs were dangerous, and several people got into difficulties and had to be rescued during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
The Gobbins today
![Replacement tubular bridge at the Gobbins](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Replacement_tubular_bridge_at_the_Gobbins.jpg)
In 2011, after years of work,
Larne Borough Council
Larne Borough Council was a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymena Borough Council and Carrickfergus Borough Council in May 2015 under the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland to become Mid ...
announced a plan to reopen The Gobbins. A series of 15 new bridges and six new gallery structures (which hug the side of the cliff) were constructed and installed during 2014–15. The reimagined path includes an iconic new Tubular Bridge. Weighing over , it was craned into position on 22 October 2014.
Visitors can once again enjoy the tunnel, including a section which runs below sea-level. Four of the new bridges are over in length. The project has also improved on Wise’s original work with a new cliff-top path, which offers views stretching as far as
Ailsa Craig
Ailsa Craig (; sco, Ailsae Craig; gd, Creag Ealasaid) is an island of in the outer Firth of Clyde, west of mainland Scotland, upon which microgranite has long been quarried to make curling stones. The now-uninhabited island comprises the r ...
in Scotland, and a cantilevered platform and staircase providing viewing points over the first bridges to the north and
Belfast Lough
Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to th ...
to the South.
The project cost £7.5 million with just under half of the funding coming through the European Union's
Interreg IVA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) and administered by the North East Partnership. Larne Borough Council provided £4 million support with further funding of £200,000 from Ulster Garden Villages Limited.
Tourism NI
Tourism Northern Ireland, also known as Tourism NI, is a non-departmental public body of the Department for the Economy. Its primary objective is to promote Northern Ireland as a tourist destination to domestic tourists, from within Northern Irel ...
has contributed funding towards the cliff-top path, and a platform and staircase were funded by the North East Region Rural Development Programme. The Gobbins project is part of a cross-border project which also includes the enhancement of another tourist destination based in
Sliabh Liag, County Donegal.
Replacement Tubular Bridge at the Gobbins 2015.jpg, The Tubular Bridge at The Gobbins
Plaque commemorating reopening of The Gobbins.JPG, Plaque detailing the restoration of The Gobbins
New bridge and old bridge remains at The Gobbins.JPG, New bridge and old bridge remains at The Gobbins
Exhibition area at The Gobbins Visitor Centre.JPG, Exhibition area at The Gobbins Visitor Centre
References
Notes
*
External links
*{{official website , http://thegobbinscliffpath.com
Tourist attractions in County Antrim
Via ferrata