The scenery around Ballycastle has inspired local artists for generations — most visibly on the seafront itself, where The Children of Lir, a stainless-steel sculpture by Malcolm Robertson, arcs up beside the breakwater near the children’s playground. It depicts the four swans from one of Ireland’s best-known legends: the children of King Lir, transformed into swans by a jealous stepmother’s magic, condemned to 900 years on the water. The story has a genuine local connection — tradition holds the swans found their final sanctuary at Rathlin Island, visible from this very spot, where they returned to human form at last.
Further out, Limepark, on the outskirts of Armoy village, is another example of that connection — a 19th-century farmstead whose black basalt buildings have been carefully restored, with the original stonework and historic details kept rather than stripped out. It now operates as self-catering accommodation and an event venue, about ten minutes from Ballycastle.