Murlough Bay is situated on the northeast coast of Ireland a mile and a half south of Fair Head and twenty-four miles north by west of Larne. It is a remote and beautiful location where a temporary anchorage may be had out of the main tidal stream.

Murlough Bay is an exposed anchorage in an area with extreme currents where a vessel should not go unwatched. It offers good protection during a settled period or with moderate westerly winds round to southerly conditions. The coast here is however completely exposed to anything from the east. Access is straightforward thanks to the absence of offshore dangers or any tidal restrictions.

Keyfacts for Murlough Bay

Position and approaches

Haven position

55° 12.641' N, 006° 6.786' W

What are the key points of the approach?

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What's the story here?

The picturesque Murlough Bay is a small indentation situated midway between Fair Head and Torr Head, 1½ miles apart on each side, and entered close west of Ruebane Point. Here the almost verticle precipices of Antrim relent to create a small cove enclosed by steep wooded slopes. The natural grandeur of the scenery here makes this one of the most beautiful locations on an already outstanding Antrim coastline. Much of the area is now owned and managed by the National Trust which provides access to the public via a road that leads to a car park and a footpath thereafter to the cove itself.




The bay provides an anchorage out of the main tidal stream with good holding. There is nothing here except for a single house fronted by a small boathouse, another tiny beach house and the pathway leading past them to the grasslands and access road above.




Murlough Bay makes an ideal lunch stop or a tide-wait location. But those who come ashore cannot but be overwhelmed by the scene of breathtaking natural beauty that is to be experienced by landing.

How to get in?

Vessels converging on Murlough Bay will find no outlying hazards north of Hangman and Maiden Rocks situated 20 miles to the southeast. Keeping 400 metres out from the slopes of the Antrim Mountains, which push out almost vertically to the coast in the vicinity, clears all dangers. The direction and velocity of the tide will be the central feature of any navigation planning in this area. They attain a rate of 4 knots off the pitch of the point off Torr Head close south.




From the Murlough Bay initial fix, set approximately 500 metres to the northeast of the bay, steer into the bay passing north of Ruebane Head and sound into the southwest side of the bay.




A long white cottage will be seen on the western side of the bay with a tiny stone boathouse set amongst the rocks close northward. Keep well off this side of the bay as exposed rocks fringe the western shoreline here.




Anchor in 2.5 metres in the southwest end of the bay, to the southeast of the outermost rock stretching from the western shoreline backed by the boathouse. Holding is excellent over clean sand.




Land, at low water, on the small beach that appears in the southwest corner of the bay. At other times there is the semblance of a slip inset into an opening between the larger inner shoreline rocks that lead to the tiny stone boathouse. Its approaches are partially protected by the large outer rocks that stand out in front of it.

Why visit here?

Murlough Bay derives its name from the Irish words 'murlach' or 'murbolc'. These are based on a softening of the original 'mu-i-rbholg', pronounced 'murrwullig', meaning 'sea inlet'. Situated between Fair Head and Torr Head this is a place well-known through the centuries for its outstanding beauty.




Legend recalls that the slopes of this bay were the summer residence of the ancient Celtic Kings of 'Dal Riada', the kingdom which covered the northeast corner of Antrim from a line between Glenarm to Bushmills. It was here that Saint Columba landed after sailing from Iona to Ireland to attend the Synod of Drumceat c.595 AD. Not long after the early Christians built a church on the small hillock in the centre of Murlough Bay. It was first known as the 'Church of St Mologe' after the Saint who founded it as a monastic settlement, and who is believed to be buried at its western end. But in time it became known as Drumnakill Church from the Irish words 'Droim na Coille' meaning 'ridge of the wood' describing the bay. In its day, which was more than a thousand years ago, the church was chiefly accessible from the sea, and it was from the sea that its small flock would have sustained themselves.




Murlough Bay has historical Scottish connections noted in two early maps of the area that dates back to 1601. The first 'East Ulster' map includes the phrase 'Here the Scotts make their warning fyres' depicting a bonfire at a point above Murlough Bay. The same location is pointed out on another 'Map of Ireland' with the inscription stating 'At this marke the Scottes used to make their warning-fires'. These refer to a MacDonnell clan beacon on the cliff top above the bay. From here, in times of trouble, they would hail reinforcements from their Kintyre homeland. The deep waters, moderately sheltered cove and clean sandy head provided an excellent berth and landing point for those responding to the 'call to arms'. Although the valley is steep, a warrior could ascend from the shoreline to the top of the cliff in about fifteen minutes.




From the 1700s to the 1940s, and most particularly during the 1800s, coal and limestone were mined here. The local geology is typical of the Antrim topography with basalt overlaying sandstone and limestone which made the production of lime popular along this coast. The mining effort at Murlough Bay was at best sporadic and never amounted to much. Yet it did support a small mining settlement that is evidenced by the ruins of some miners' cottages north of the bay on the path to Fair Head. The kilns here would have processed limestone quarried from the cliffs above, which would have been burned together with the locally mined coal. The resultant residue was utilised for fertiliser or in mortar, and occasionally as limewash which was believed to have been used to whiten the buildings of Cushendun.




An unusual feature of the bay is a concrete plinth near the road with superb views over the bay and across to Scotland. This was originally a 'station of the cross' on an ancient pilgrim's way from the old Church of Drumnakill. The plinth was then used by Republicans to place a cross, subsequently destroyed, in commemoration of Sir Roger Casement. Casement was a most remarkable man by any measure.




In 1911, he knelt before King George V and was knighted for his humanitarian work. Described as the 'father of twentieth-century human rights investigations', he received his knighthood for his important investigations of human rights abuses in Peru and the Congo. Yet five years later this British diplomat, human rights activist, and poet was brought back to London in chains. There he was stripped of his knighthood, hanged at London's Pentonville prison and his naked body was thrown into an open grave.




Influenced by the Boer War and his investigation into colonial atrocities against indigenous peoples, Casement became disillusioned with colonialism and developed anti-imperialist opinions at the time of his Knighthood. After retiring from the consular service in 1913, he became more involved with the Irish Republican and separatist movement. Attracted by the potential of an Irish-German alliance as a way of securing full Irish independence, he conceived a plan for an uprising and went to Germany to petition for 200,000 rifles and military support. The Germans were very cautious yet at the same time realised the potential of an Irish uprising. In the end, Casement only succeeded in securing a token gesture of 20,000 guns, a fraction of what he requested, and the use of a disguised Norwegian flagged 'Aud Norge' ship to bring them in. When he realised German promises of soldiers and 200,000 rifles were not going to be fulfilled, he believed Irish plans for an uprising would be futile, so he returned to Ireland in a U-boat in an attempt to stop it.




The 'Aud Norge' arrived days ahead of him and failed to rendezvous with the revolutionaries. It was detected by the Royal Navy off Kerry and was scuttled sending its cargo to the seabed. Casement following landed from the U boat awash in the surf off Banna Strand, Tralee. Already ill for some time and unable to 'go on the run', he was quickly arrested by British authorities. He was in the Tower Of London awaiting trial for espionage and sabotage when the 1916 Easter Rising commenced. During Casement’s trial for high treason, his private journal entries, later known as the Black Diaries, were secretly released by the British government, in the hope that revelations about his homosexuality would help undermine public support for the well-known humanitarian. The case against him was shaky as his alleged treason had taken place in Germany and not the UK. In the end, his guilt was determined by the placement of a comma in the Treason Act of 1351, which was written in Norman French. Casement famously wrote later that he was to be "hanged on a comma".




Although he is now buried in Dublin, Murlough Bay was Casement's burial place of choice. The night before his execution he sent a letter to his cousin Gertrude Bannister in which he wrote 'Take my body back with you and let it lie in the old churchyard in Murlough Bay'. Since the 1950s it has been earmarked as the site for the return of Casement's remains and each August there is a small memorial held in his honour here.




Today Murlough Bay is the most spectacular of all the bays along the northern coast. Visitors here will find solitude combined with a breathtaking panorama that combines views over Fair Head, the imposing cliff that marks the northeast corner of Ireland, Rathlin Island, Islay, Ailsa Craig and the Mull of Kintyre. Whilst drinking it all in Buzzards, Peregrine, Falcons, Eider and Fulmars will most likely be soaring up along its high cliff walls above. This bay itself is unique and a place of outstanding natural beauty. Tucked in beneath its high cliff-tops and out of the prevailing winds, the hillside gently curves down to the sea creating a wall of sheltering limestone and a preserving microclimate. One of the few remaining old 'natural' temperate woodlands in Ireland, where Birch, Rowan and Hazel still thrive, is here along with a unique series of wildflower meadows. These stand in complete contrast with the harsh barren moorland plateau above. During winter, the woods provide food and shelter for the herd of feral goats who roam the area freely.




Most likely it is because of the absence of a main road that there is little man-made evidence here beyond what has been already mentioned. So this is a place for just spending time taking in the vast expanse of unspeakable grandeur. The beauty and diversity of the scenery are directly due to the remarkable assemblage of different geological formations in a limited area. The more energetic may take the opportunity to visit the impressive Fair Head which is accessible by foot from here. It is owned by the National Trust and a path leads to the walkway called 'The Grey Man's Path' that winds around the rugged coastline.




From a purely boating perspective, Murlough Bay, akin to nearby Torr Head, provides a place to step out of the run of the current along this coastline. This is a considerable advantage in this area, making it a good place to await a favourable tide or to have a lunch break. With enough crew aboard to keep an eye on the boat, there is the opportunity to land and take in the feeling gifted by the prettiest inlet on one of the prettiest coastlines of Ireland.

What facilities are available?

There is nothing here except for the slip.

Any security concerns?

Never an issue known to have occurred to a vessel anchored off Murlough Bay. Any vessel here will most likely be alone in this isolated corner of Ireland.

With thanks to:

Terry Crawford.