Ballyhalbert – Ireland’s most easterly point

Overview

Burr Point, two kilometres south of Ballyhalbert, is the most easterly spot on the island of Ireland – a low grassy headland marked by a bronze sculpture of the letter ‘E’ by the artist Ned Jackson Smyth. The village itself is a small, largely residential fishing settlement on the east shore of the Ards Peninsula in County Down, with a population of 1,266 at the 2021 census, up from 1,026 a decade earlier. On a clear day you can pick out the Isle of Man and the Scottish coast across the North Channel.

If you do one thing here, walk out to Burr Point at sunrise. Being the furthest point east, it catches the morning light before anywhere else in the country, and the headland is empty at that hour.

History and heritage

Ballyhalbert was recorded as Talbotyston as far back as 1333, named for the Talbot family who settled here after the Anglo-Norman invasion. By 1605 the name had been Gaelicised to Ballitalbot, and to Ballihalbert by 1617; the modern Irish is Baile Thalbóid. The village still carries that mixed inheritance on the street: brown heritage signs around the village record the old Ulster-Scots names, among them the splendid ‘Tay Pot Raa’.

The coast put Ballyhalbert in the line of fire in both world wars. In May 1917 the German U-boat UC-65, under Otto Steinbrinck, captured and sank four merchant vessels in Ballyhalbert Bay – the Saint Mungo, Derrymore, Amber and Morion (one account adds a fifth, the Japanese steamer Taizan Maru). The Second World War left a heavier mark: an airfield was built in 1941 to protect Belfast and the eastern half of Northern Ireland, operating in turn as RAF Ballyhalbert, RNAS Ballyhalbert and the Royal Navy shore station HMS Corncrake until it closed in mid-1946. The site is now a holiday park, with runway lighting columns and the control tower still standing among the caravans. The graves of five servicemen who died during the war lie in the churchyard at St Andrew’s Church of Ireland.

What to see and do

Burr Point

A signposted coastal path from the harbour leads the short distance south to Burr Point and its bronze ‘E’. The site has a small car park, public toilets and benches, and clear views across the North Channel. One thing worth knowing: the road running directly to the point is for residents only, so park at the harbour and walk in along the shore.

The harbour

Ballyhalbert’s small harbour is a working waterfront, with fishing boats moored against the stone pier, which dries out completely at low tide. In summer it doubles as a jet-ski launch, and dulse-pickers spread their seaweed harvest to dry along the harbour wall – a habit worth a closer look if you’ve never seen it. A disused coastguard tower sits on the hill above, a useful landmark from the water.

Glastry Nature Reserve

Just inland, Glastry Nature Reserve is a string of shallow ponds and grassy margins left behind by old clay and limestone pits that once fed Belfast’s brickworks. The trails are gentle and dog-friendly, and the water draws wading birds, dragonflies and wildflowers through the warmer months. It’s a quiet half-hour, not a destination in itself.

The beach and village

The beach runs about a kilometre along the bay. The top of it is rock and pebble; the wide flat sand only appears at low tide, so time a paddle or a long beach walk for the ebb rather than turning up at high water expecting a strand. There are no lifeguards. Behind the beach the holiday park fills with families in summer and runs its own mini-golf, clubhouse and ice-cream parlour.

The village is short on places to eat and drink, and what counts as the local pub has come and gone over the years – don’t arrive banking on a meal out. The Spar is the dependable stop, with a small café, groceries, the only ATM and local odds and ends like soda bread and whiskey jam.

Nature and wildlife

The offshore Burial Island is an important habitat for breeding seabirds, terns in particular. Its name has a few competing origins: some accounts point to an old Danish burial ground, others to the Irish na broighill (cormorant), others again to a worn-down ‘Burr Isle’. Spring and summer migration are the busiest seasons for birdwatchers along the shore.

Sailing and boating

Ballyhalbert Bay gives small craft a useful anchorage, with depths around 5 metres near the pier and reliable shelter from south-westerlies, though easterly winds bring in a heavier swell. Tidal streams through the North Channel run hard, with spring rates reaching roughly 2.5 knots. Give Burial Island a wide berth – there are no marked channels between the rock and the shore – and bear in mind the pier and slipway dry at low water, so the bay suits bilge-keelers or boats happy to take the ground.

Practical information

Getting there – Ballyhalbert is on the A2 coast road, roughly 40 minutes south of Bangor and half an hour north of Portaferry. Translink buses stop in the village, but a car makes the rest of the peninsula far easier to reach.

Parking and accessibility – Free parking at the harbour car park and in roadside bays near the holiday park. The harbour front and beach access are level and suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs; the path to Burr Point is mostly even but has some uneven coastal sections and steps.

Nearby

• Portavogie – Working fishing harbour four miles south, where the boats land prawns and the catch is sold off the pier.
• Echlinville Distillery – Inland at Kircubbin; one of the first new distilleries on the island in over a century, with tours and tastings.
• Mount Stewart – National Trust house and celebrated gardens on the shore of Strangford Lough.
• Orlock Point – A National Trust headland to the north with a preserved Second World War lookout post.

Time your visit to the tide and the light: low water for the sand, first light for Burr Point.