Ballyvessey, Newtownabbey At a superficial glance this little pub might seem like many another scattered about the province which you would think couldn’t find their way into this book, but you would be wrong in this particular case. Even today, to look at this quiet little pub, who would have thought that at the concluding […]

57 Main St, Broughshane, Ballymena BT42 4JP [Photo: The Thatch, Broughshane.] One look at The Thatch in Broughshane, and you’ll know why it’s a Grade A listed building. From its superb thatched roof down to its studded doors and old stone walls, it fairly oozes history. The building was originally a planter’s house, and today […]

23 Mill St, Cushendall, Ballymena BT44 0RR There are some pubs that you simply fall in love with right away, usually little old places that seem to have defied or escaped the passage of time. McCollam’s is just such a bar, a corner in Cushendall that seems to contain all the history of the village, […]

7 Bridge St, Cushendall, Ballymena BT44 0RP There’s a story for nearly everything in the most famous Victorian bar on the Antrim coast, The Central in Cushendall. An example is the tale of the Cushendall man who recently was on holiday in Germany, and quite by chance was leafing through a glossy German magazine. He […]