Overview
Ballycastle Museum is shut until 2028. It’s midway through a restoration and expansion that will nearly quadruple its floor space by taking in the building next door at 57 Castle Street, backed by a £202,981 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant awarded in 2023. So what follows is what the collection holds and what to expect when the doors reopen, rather than somewhere you can visit right now.
When it’s open, the museum fills an 18th-century courthouse and market house at 59 Castle Street in the heart of Ballycastle, a Grade B+ listed building that was the town’s civic hub for over a century. Entry is free, it’s run largely by volunteers, and it sits on the Ballycastle Heritage Trail, which still passes the building while the work goes on.
A Historic Courthouse
The Grade B+ listed building dates to the late 1700s, originally functioning as a combined market house and courthouse. For over a century, it was the centre of civic life in Ballycastle, hosting everything from local trials to market transactions. The architecture retains much of its original character, including vaulted market arches and a historic timber floor structure.
One of the most distinctive features is a sandstone mullioned window salvaged from Bonamargy Friary, a medieval Augustinian friary located just outside the town. This architectural reuse reflects the town’s long history of adapting and preserving its heritage. In the late 20th century, the building was repurposed as a museum, creating a tangible link between Ballycastle’s judicial past and its cultural revival.
Collections & Highlights
The museum’s exhibits are curated to tell the story of local life, artistry, and industry. The core collection focuses on the Irish Home Industries Workshop, an early 20th-century initiative that revived traditional crafts during the Arts and Crafts movement.
Irish Home Industries Workshop
This collection showcases handcrafted goods produced by local artisans in the early 1900s. Items include hand-loomed tweed blankets, copper tea sets featuring Celtic motifs, wooden toys, and embroidered linens. The quality and design of these pieces were recognised internationally, with many showcased at the 1904 St Louis World Fair.
Archaeology & Local History
Beyond the Arts and Crafts movement, the museum houses artefacts that span millennia:
- Spanish Armada finds: Cannons, coins and a rosary recovered from a 1588 Armada wreck off the Ballycastle coast.
- Bronze Age and Neolithic finds: Stone tools and other early material from the surrounding glens, along with Neolithic finds from nearby Rathlin Island.
- 1798 Rebellion exhibits: Objects tracing Ballycastle’s part in the United Irishmen’s rising against English rule.
- Devils of Ballycastle fragments: Pieces of enigmatic sandstone statues, one an unexplained royal figure carved over 2,000 years ago, that once overlooked the harbour.
Cultural Artifacts
The Taise Banner is the standout piece – made for the first Feis na nGleann in 1904, designed by John Campbell with F.J. Bigger as lead organiser, and believed to be the only banner of its kind left. It’s a vivid trace of the early-20th-century revival of Irish language and heritage in the Glens. The museum also holds a reproduction of a 15th-century Bonamargy Friary manuscript translating Cardinal Bonaventura’s History of the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord, a project completed by local volunteers.
Rotating Artworks
The gallery features paintings and sculptures by local artists, including Charles J. McAuley and Sophia Rosamond Praeger. McAuley’s works often depict the local landscape, with titles such as Stormy Seascape and Moonlight Bay. Praeger is represented by pieces like The Philosopher and Faith Healing. Because the art collection rotates between the permanent gallery and travelling exhibitions, visitors with a specific interest in a particular work should contact the museum in advance to arrange an appointment.
Community & Redevelopment
The museum’s operations rely heavily on the Friends of Ballycastle Museum, a volunteer group established in 2013. Their efforts have been instrumental in extending the opening season beyond the traditional summer months and securing vital funding. The group also produces the 30 Treasures publication, a guide that explores the stories behind thirty of the museum’s most significant objects.
A major transformation is underway for the building. In 2023, the National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded £202,981 towards a restoration, expansion and refurbishment that will nearly quadruple the gallery space by extending into 57 Castle Street next door. The project keeps key architectural features, such as the vaulted masonry and enclosed market arches, while adding new accessible facilities. The museum is closed for the duration and is not expected to reopen until 2028.
Visiting Information
- Status: Closed for restoration until 2028. Check the Causeway Museum Services Facebook page for reopening news before you plan a trip.
- Address: 59 Castle Street, Ballycastle, County Antrim BT54 6AS
- Phone: 028 2076 2024 (Causeway Coast & Glens museum service)
- Email: cms@causewaycoastandglens.gov.uk
- Admission: Free (donations welcome)
- Parking: Street parking in the town centre only, sometimes charged; there is no dedicated museum car park. The harbour pay-and-display is a short walk away.
- Accessibility: The restoration is adding new accessible facilities, including lifts; details will follow when it reopens.
When it reopens
The building is worth timing a visit for once the work is done, not least because the extension nearly quadruples the space. In the meantime, the Ballycastle Heritage Trail still runs past the courthouse door, and Ballycastle Strand and the cliffs out at Fair Head are a short walk or drive on – enough to fill the afternoon you’d have given the galleries.