Forget scouring Booking.com and AirBnB for hours looking for your next cosy winter break. Book directly with North Coast Irish Cottages for best prices and deals.   Book North Coast Irish Cottages directly through our own website, and you will be guaranteed the best price!   A two night stay at Crockatinney Cottages will set you back just £210 for two nights, based on up to 5 people sharing and one infant. What’s more, you can cancel free of charge right up until 31 October.

Crockatinney Cottages were passed as suitable self-catering accommodation at their last inspection.   The cottages are cosy, humble, rurally located self-catering units, on the Whitepark Road (B15), between Ballycastle and Ballintoy.

The Open is set to return to Royal Portrush in 2025!   If you are looking for accommodation please get in touch via email to secure your place on the North Coast for the big event. Preference will be given to direct bookings on this occasion.   Northern Ireland | It’s not about how far, it’s about how fun! #staycation #discoverni

If you’re looking for a local getaway with your four-legged family this Autumn, don’t forget that Crockatinney Cottages are pet friendly.   We are listed on U.K. Travel & Tourism & Discover NI.   Looking for an Autumn staycation? Book direct on the website.

Summer 2021 looks set to be another year of staycationing in Ireland.   Many are opting for a different kind of holiday – one where the whole family can participate (that includes pet dogs and horses!)     “No one can teach riding so well as a horse.” - C.S. Lewis     I am trialling horse b&b this summer, and already have a couple of bookings. Watch this space for more info!

I recently added Fudge & Smudge to the animal family at Crockatinney Cottages. I think it’s nice for people visiting a rural area to be able to interact with animals that they otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to. That’s what makes a stay here a little bit more special!     We’re also pet-friendly! Crockatinney Cottage were among the first dog-friendly lodgings on the North Coast when founded in 2007.

As part of the NorthWord project, I submitted the following fictionalised story about the Gortconny Burial Ground, located within the boundary of Crockatinney. It is based on the records kept by the Board of Guardians in the form of meeting minutes throughout the late 19th Century. The burial site – known locally as the ‘pauper’s grave’ – is one of very few local relics of the Great Famine. The site is untouched and overgrown, but the original perimeter wall and gate remain.     The workhouse buildings stood on 6 acres to the west of Ballycastle, half a mile from its bustling civic centre.   The words BALLYCASTLE WORKHOUSE were spelled out in iron on the front gate – a gate intended on keeping people in rather than out. The entrance was flanked by two small buildings one of which was the administrative offices of the Guardians, the other being a reception ward to quarantine new admissions.   Local people were said to turn a blind eye away from the workhouse as they hurried past when coming or going from the town. Aside from sightings of the master walking a swarm of schoolboys to take the salt water in June, people were not reminded of the workhouse and they preferred it that way. Even as a topic of conversation it was avoided, lest a similar fate befall the gossiper.   Epidemics of disease washed through the workhouse population frequently, but a particular outbreak of whooping cough in the boys’ quarter had been cause for alarm, according to historical notes.   Two young boys succumbed within days of each other after labouring in isolation with the 100-days-cough. Orders had been given for the boys’ removal to the Gortconny burial site due to the contagion of their disease and owing to the fact that no relatives could be found to pay for a decent burial.   In a letter to the Guardians, the Catholic chaplain had requested the remains of Catholic inmates be swaddled in blue cloth, as opposed to burlap, so that they might be received by Saint Peter modestly dressed. The reply to the priest had been cordial – while efforts could be made there could be no guarantee, particularly since procuring blue cloth for the purpose would involve some expense – and beggars, after all, cannot be choosers.   Swaddled bodies would be carried by donkey and cart up the Rattlin Brae – so called because of the noise carts made as they were driven hard up the hill to create the impetus necessary to make it to the top.   The pauper’s burial site at Gortconny was – and is – a humble one, being the size of an acre, one rood and 20 perches. A small stone wall marked the perimeter. It wasn’t what one might expect of a graveyard – nothing more than a hole in the ground. It had been opened by one of the men from the Latch who cut the turf there in the summertime but it would be closed soon and another hole opened in its place – if a man could be found to do the labour. The digging of a hole was an expense that had to be minimised, by order of the Guardians.   The plot of ground, remote and inhospitable, had been procured by the Ballycastle Workhouse Board of Guardians for a small sum, and was chosen because of its distance from town. Such a location was necessary at a time when epidemics raged on the continent and everyone feared the next deathly wave of disease. There were no headstones at Gortconny, as they were an expense that couldn’t be spared.   The Gortconny burying ground was used up until the early 1860s. After this inmates from the workhouse were buried at the graveyard at Bonamargy in the section known as the Poor Ground.

At the end of March (as opposed to the beginning of the month, which is when we thought the foaling would happen) we welcomed a new little addition to the herd.   A baby colt! (Colt is what a young male horse is called.) I named him Fhinn – because we are just a stone’s throw from the Giant’s Causeway.   Baby Fhinn wasted no time settling in. Mum Babybel, on the other hand, was keen to get back to the herd and for her life to resume as normal. I kept her in for a few days after the birth, but being apart from the rest seemed to be stressing her needlessly. I got baby a calf coat, and out they went for socially distanced visits.   The band of bachelors seemed to take to the newest member very well. Before long, I was happy for them all to mingle together again.   Everyone takes turns at babysitting – Bel was in an entirely different field the other day, happily grazing, while baby was elsewhere exploring the world with one of his ‘uncles’.   It’s lovely observing the horses in as natural a habitat as can be provided. The foal is learning a lot of social skills from the herd, which will benefit him in his future role as someone’s pet. He really is a very civil little guy!

If you’re visiting the cottage – and you don’t fancy cooking (although you do have a fully-equipped kitchen, who am I to judge!) here are some of my recommendations for take-away, deliveries and bookable places. More things will open up on May 24th so I will do another update at that time.   Ballycastle    🍱 Share plates (and wine recommendations!) https://www.facebook.com/beliciousgrazing/   🥩 Anzac (great steak; delivery most nights) https://www.facebook.com/AnzacRestaurant/   🍔 Hunter’s Bar & Restaurant (home cooking; tables can be booked in advance for weekends, takeaway meals midweek for collection) https://www.facebook.com/HuntersBarBallyvoy/   🍕 Al’s Pizzeria (Ask about their meal deals – delivery or collection) Tel: 028 2024 8318   🍕 Pizza Haven (Pizza from seafront location) Tel: 028 2076 9999   🦞 Morton’s Fish, Chips & seafood (very busy on weekends!) https://www.mortonsfishballycastle.com/index.html   🥙 OConnors Bar (Booking system in place; no deliveries; open for food bookings – two hour slots so you can stay on for a drink!) https://www.facebook.com/OConnors-Bar-159661870715632/   Ballintoy   🍺 Carrick-a-Rede Bar open for pints outside (lovely new take away coffee dock) No booking system ; first come first served   🍽 Fullerton Arms (Book an outdoor pod for dinner & drinks) Tel: 028 2076 9613

“The Bee Man” at Crockatinney, Queen-proofing his hives.   Out for a stroll the other evening and saw this apiculturist tending to his beehives, getting things set up for summer.   He told me that the Queen is only allocated space in one of the hives – otherwise she’d lay eggs everywhere and spoil the honey. All the neighbouring hives have a thin mesh that the large Queen can’t fit through.   Her workers will diligently fill the cells in each of the trays (within the hive) with delicious honey. Their work begins now and concludes toward the end of the summer.   (ps. It’s Glens of Antrim honey, btw!)

I offer bespoke horse riding experiences to holidaymakers and staycationers through AirBnB. The dialogue and learning includes history of our native breeds, how to correctly groom a horse, explanation of the equipment used, as well as a riding lesson and walk through the private trails.   The experiences are meant as ‘stand alone’ lessons, or a number of experiences can be built together to form a package. Of course(!) I recommend staying at the cottage for a more immersive experience on the farm – but all bookings via AirBnB are welcome.

I recently completed an online assessment to certify my commitment to an enhanced cleaning protocol at Cuckoo’s Nest cottage. Other procedures include reduced contact with customers and the wearing of a facemask where social distancing may not be guaranteed.   The house manual is available via PDF (emailed or messaged to the guest on day of arrival) and self- check-in instructions are emailed immediately at time of booking. Correspondence will largely be via email or WhatsApp.   Book Cuckoo’s Nest Cottage directly

As the world slowly tries to reorganise after the chaos of COVID-19, I have received a few tentative messages about my re-opening.   Most of these inquiries come from returning visitors. It’s probably sensible to assume that we won’t see the same swathes of overseas visitors on our shores for the rest of 2020 – but I am optimistic that there will be an uptick in UK and Ireland travellers later in the year.   Why stay at Crockatinney?   Set in a quiet, rural location between Ballycastle and Ballintoy, Crockatinney Cottages are your very own home-from-home on Ireland’s North Coast. Enjoy uninterrupted views of Knocklayd Mountain, Glenshesk, Fairhead, Rathlin Island, the Mull of Kintyre – and even the eastern Scottish Islands on a clear day.   Kinbane Castle, a genuine medieval castle, is less than 2 miles away and walkable from Crockatinney. The Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge is 3 miles away and the Giant’s Causeway is 10 miles away.   Although not a working farm, Crockatinney comprises over 60 acres of peatland (or bog) teeming in biodiversity. The composition of the soil has allowed many ecosystems and uncommon species’ to thrive.   The difficultly farming this marshy ground means it has been almost entirely given over to nature, besides a few grazing horses and donkeys. Crockatinney Cottages will appeal to anyone who loves both countryside and coast!