On Monday I wrote about Cape Clear, Ireland’s most southerly inhabited island. I thought it only fitting that now I write about Ireland’s most northerly island, Rathlin Island, which is off the coast of Co. Antrim in Northern Island.

The only inhabited Northern Irish island is Rathlin Island. It’s a small place (4 miles/6.4 km from E to W and 2.5 miles/4.0 km from N to S, and is never more than .9 of a mile/1.5 km wide) shaped like an L (some say a boomerang) in the North Atlantic. There are about 70-100 people living on Rathlin (people have lived there since 6000 BC) and Ballycastle in Antrim is the nearest mainland point. Ferries (or “life lines”) travel back and forth between Rathlin and Ballycastle regularly for both tourists and islanders alike. In fact, recently The new Rathlin Express Catamaran began running and it takes only 20 minutes to travel the 6 miles/9.6 km to the mainland. (An interesting side note: The man who runs the Rathlin Express is actually from Cape Clear.)

I read a lot about Rathlin this morning and the same descriptions kept coming up over again: tranquil, rugged, isolated and wild. The island sounds mysterious, right?

Rathlin has a quite a history. The Vikings and English both raided the island (in 795 and 1575 respectively). Robert the Bruce, a 13th century exiled king from Scotland, is said to have found courage to retake his kingdom while on Rathlin after watching a spider build its web (determination and dedication, right?). The island was once a haven for smugglers because of its obscure location. Guglielmo Marconi, the man behind the radiotelegraph system, transmitted the first commercial radio signals from the island. And Richard Branson crashed his hot air balloon into the sea off Rathlin

Much like Cape Clear, due to Rathlin’s isolated location makes bird watching a big attraction to the island. Puffins, guillemots, kittiwakes, razorbills, fulmars can all be spotted on the island. Sea-angling, cycling, hiking, and scuba diving are also popular activities on Rathlin too in addition to walking around the seal colony and the island’s lighthouses.

And last but certainly not least, Rathlin offers some pretty spectacular physical history for visitors. The island is home to an Iron Age fort, standing stones, Robert the Bruce’s Castle, Mc Donnell’s tower house, and a Manor House.

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♣ Related Links
An Island of Beauty, History, And Storytellers
Rathlin’s new ferry makes first trip
Diddly Blog

Source; Source; Source; Cliff Image Source; Map Image Source; Puffin Image Source

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