9 Dunluce Rd, Bushmills BT57 8QG
[Photo: The Bushmills Inn, Bushmills — beside the turf fire.]
The home of the world’s oldest whiskey distillery, Bushmills also can proudly present a superb pub which bears the name of the town and its famous product.
The Bushmills Inn is a recently restored coaching inn, formerly THE ANTRIM ARMS, which fell into disuse and was used for a variety of other purposes before the present owners refurbished it and made it one of the finest pubs in the north.
The old stables, which had been used in the manufacture of bicycles, have been made into the Barony Restaurant, and the intimate snugs and first class cuisine attract regular customers from Belfast and even beyond. Then there is the Brasserie, a Victorian style eating house with its long bar and gas lights extending into the stone-flagged original kitchen.
When the work was being done, not only was the bicycle factory enamelling oven still in position in the stables, but the loft was in a fowl condition, and thats not a spelling error, because hens and chickens were nesting and roosting in it. Now the Loft, with its original vaulted ceiling, is a grand function room overlooking the waters of the River Bush, and next to the library which, with its concealed entrance, is the perfect room for private residential meetings and small conferences.
As a hostelry, the Bushmills Inn has all the qualities of historic Ulster hospitality. An Irish hearth and turf fire greets you as soon as you enter and, sure enough, there are the rocking chair, the whitewashed stone walls, the ancient beams and burnished brass that have welcomed weary visitors for years on end.
The ambience of an old coaching inn, together with all comfort and facilities expected by the modern guest, is a formula which has proved so successful that already the Inn has won a British Airways Tourism Endeavour Award and earned itself a three star R.A.C. rating.
Its steady stream of visitors has included Dame Edna Everage, who had an Australian flag hoisted in his/her honour, and who was highly impressed by the service and style of the place. the slogan of The Bushmills Inn is ‘GIVING THE PAST A FUTURE’ but equally telling is the Latin tag on its Coat of Arms which reads ‘WHO CARES WINS’. You’ll find all the evidence you need to support this motto as soon as you enter the archway leading to the back entrance of the Bushmills Inn.