Murlough Bay () is a bay on the north coast of

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

between Fair Head and Torr Head. Known for its remote location, the area overlooks Rathlin Island and has views across the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

to the Mull of Kintyre, Islay, Jura and other Scottish islands. The local geology is typical of the Antrim topography with basalt overlaying

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. The area has many kilns used in the production of lime.

History

The original Gaelic name was Muir-bolc. According to the 11th century ''Preface to the Amra Coluim Cille'', Murlough Bay was the place where

Saint Columba Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Gaelic Ireland, Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the ...

landed after sailing from Iona to Ireland to attend the Synod of Drumceat . Although he is now buried in Dublin, Murlough Bay was the burial place of choice of Sir Roger Casement, a former British government diplomat. Knighted by King George V in 1911 and an Irish Nationalist revolutionary leader in 1916, he was executed by the government of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for treason in August 1916 during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. While awaiting execution in Pentonville prison, he sent a letter to his cousin Gertrude Bannister in which he wrote "Take my body back with you and let it lie in the old churchyard in Murlough Bay". Casement was a frequent visitor to Ballycastle, where he stayed with relatives and found a close affinity with the beauty and wildness of the location. A plinth at Murlough Bay is what remains of a more recent cross which was erected on the site to commemorate Casement. Each August, a small memorial is held here in his honour by Republican Sinn Féin.

References

External links

{{Geology of Northern Ireland Landforms of County Antrim Bays of Northern Ireland