The harbour here is far older than the modern marina — long before Hugh Boyd, this bay was known as Port Brittas, watched over by the MacDonnells at Dunaneeny Castle on the headland above.
Hugh Boyd (1690–1765), born at Drumawillen in Glentaisie, inherited the Ballycastle estate in 1711 aged 21 and became manager of the Ballycastle Colliery Salt Works in 1721 — the year Ballycastle got Ireland’s first railway, a horse-drawn tramway hauling coal from the Gobb Colliery down to the shore. He didn’t take full control of the collieries until Christmas Day 1735, via a Deed of Trust, after which he expanded rapidly: three new mines, a proper harbour, and industries that at their peak employed up to 600 people at once — earning him the name “the Star of the North.”
The harbour itself was financed by a £10,000 grant from the Irish Parliament in 1737, built under the guidance of a Mr. Steers (who also worked on Liverpool Docks and the Newry Canal), and open enough by 1743 to shelter 30–40 ships. Storms in Christmas 1756 wrecked both piers and filled the harbour with sand; Boyd rebuilt in stone at his own expense, finishing in 1748. Salt, coal, and linen were shipped out — Boyd claimed Ballycastle’s coal exports alone saved the nation £829,000 by 1759, and nearly 200,000 tons had left the port by 1757.
After Boyd died in 1765, the harbour declined again: by the mid-19th century the inner dock had become the town dump, and so much sand blew into the outer harbour that a house was eventually built on it, opposite the Marine Hotel. Ballycastle stayed a working fishing port regardless through the 1800s. As fish stocks declined and the local economy suffered further, the idea of a marina to revive the harbour took shape in the 1990s — construction started in 1999 and finished in 2000.
Historical detail from “Col. Hugh Boyd’s Ballycastle” (Causeway Museum Service, 2007) by Daniel J. McGill of the Ballycastle Historical Research Group.
Today it’s a 74-berth marina in the town’s protected inner harbour, taking vessels up to 20 metres, and one of only two marinas in Northern Ireland to hold Blue Flag status. It’s run by Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council, with a visitor centre (Portnagree House, on Bayview Road) offering showers, toilets, laundry, 24-hour pin-code access, and Wi-Fi.
The marina is also the departure point for the passenger ferry to Rathlin Island, and for boat trips along the coast — regularly turning up seabird colonies including guillemots and gannets, and occasionally seals, dolphins, or a basking shark.
Getting there
The marina sits within walking distance of Ballycastle town centre, on Bayview Road. For berthing enquiries, the marina office can be reached on VHF Channel 80 or by phone.