You can book a room in a castle that has stood here since 1625. Ballygally Castle – a Scottish-baronial tower house put up by James Shaw of Greenock, who rented the land from the Earl of Antrim for £24 a year – is now a Hastings hotel, and it’s the only 17th-century castle in Northern Ireland still lived in. Over the door, in Middle Scots, is the original inscription: Godis Providens is my Inheritans. The hotel leans hard into its reputation as one of the most haunted buildings in Ireland, and runs ghost tours to match.
That castle is really why you stop. The village itself is tiny – fewer than a thousand people, a Spar, a hall, a couple of places to eat – strung along the Antrim Coast Road three miles north of Larne. Set your expectations on the beach accordingly: Ballygally Bay is a modest 200-metre strand, sandy but with seaweed and boulders, and it’s nobody’s idea of a north-coast star like White Park Bay. What it is, is quiet, flat and right across the road from the castle – good for a leg-stretch, not a beach day.
The Polar Bear and the headland
The white rock with a face on the beach is the village’s other small celebrity: the Polar Bear of Ballygally, a limestone outcrop a local painter turned into a bear. Children make a beeline for it. Looming over the bay to the south, Ballygally Head is a volcanic plug – the solidified throat of an old volcano – but made of dolerite rather than the basalt of the Giant’s Causeway. Because it cooled slowly underground, its crystals grew larger, giving the headland its blocky, columnar cliffs. Off the head lies the wreck of the SS Thrush, an 1889 gunboat, now a dive site.
Long before any of that, people farmed here: excavations in the 1990s turned up the foundations of Neolithic houses about 500 yards from the shore, along with pottery, worked flints and stone axes – one of the more important Neolithic settlement sites in the north.
A note on the “oldest building” claim
You’ll see Ballygally Castle billed as the oldest occupied building in Ireland. Treat that with a pinch of salt: Castle Upton, near Templepatrick, is older. What’s fair to say is that it’s the only 17th-century castle in Northern Ireland still serving as a residence – which is unusual enough without the embellishment. The hotel marked its 400th birthday in 2025 and was named in Tripadvisor’s 2025 Travelers’ Choice Awards Best of the Best – 19th in the UK, top 1% worldwide – an honour it held onto for 2026.
Things to do nearby
- Carnfunnock Country Park – Within walking distance inland, 191 hectares of woodland walks, gardens, mini-golf and play areas with sea views. Part of this was once James Shaw’s land grant, the same one the castle stands on.
- Cairndhu Golf Club – An 18-hole, par-70 parkland course on the hills above the village (192 Coast Road), founded in 1928 and open year-round, with sea views from most holes.
- The wider coast – Glenarm and its castle are about six miles up the road, and the Glens of Antrim open out behind them. The Gobbins cliff path is a half-hour or so south. The famous Causeway sights – the Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede and Bushmills – are roughly an hour north, not a quick hop, so plan them as a separate day.
Practical information
Ballygally sits on the A2 Antrim Coast Road, three miles north of Larne and its Scotland ferry, and about 45 minutes from Belfast. Buses run along the Coast Road to Larne and Belfast – check times, as services are limited.
- Parking: Two free council car parks – the Village car park (118 spaces) and the Coastal car park (40 spaces) – fill up on summer afternoons, so come earlier.
- Beach facilities: Disabled toilets and baby-changing are at the far end of the car park, open all year and cleaned daily.
- Eating: The castle hotel’s restaurant is open to non-residents; there’s also a Spar in the village for the basics.
Time a visit for late afternoon: the crowds thin, and the low sun catches the dolerite columns on the headland.