Many years ago a visitor enquired of an elderly resident as to how the people existed in the past. Probably the same question was asked many times by numerous visitors. In answer the resident pointed out vast quantities of limpet shells piled beneath the large boulders which fell from the rock face. It was obvious that sea-food formed a major part of their diet. The clachan was reputed to be a base for highwaymen but since that era more law abiding inhabitants erected permanent dwellings.
What was the attraction? It was on the only North/South route along the coast; there was ample building material from the good black stones that periodically fell, and still fall from the towering rock face. There was an abundant supply of water from the freshwater streams from the mountain. In addition to the sea-food which was always in ample supply, rabbits and hares, which were a common table menu, were in abundance. Although firewood was at a minimum, turf banks provided heating fuel. To transport turf from the mountain banks down the narrow ‘perths’ is one reason why the donkey with creels was such a necessary form of transport in the Glens.
The land towards the sea and around the clachan, although small in acreage, is fertile and on the Southern side a sheltered little valley may be put to similar use. To the rear of the buildings any useful ground is strewn with boulders from the occasional rock falls. There is grazing in abundance for cattle and sheep around the clachan for winter grazing while in the summer all the stock was moved to the plateau where there was ample acreage of rough common grazing, the drainage of which supplies the stream of fresh water-a necessity for a boleying area. Indications of this practice are still visible in the remains of boleying houses. These were stone built shelters with a sod roof and were used in Spring and Summer by the young people who watched the livestock. Water supply was a problem for the clachan residents, especially in the summer; it was got from Jack’s Spout near the Coast Road and taken in a creamery can or barrel on a donkey cart. No matter how full the container was, when it reached the houses it would only be half full. It is a noticeable feature of the 1901 census that every household kept pigs, probably for both consumption and paying rent.
From the mid 1800s the population had been on the decline in keeping with that of most townlands in Glenariffe from a peak population of 58 in 1851. Around this era the construction of the Coast Road and Falavee pier from which limestone from the local quarries was exported were a major source of employment. The decline continued until the population 1901 when the population stood at 19. The population showed a slight increase in the first quarter of the 1900s – 25 in 1911 and 24 in 1926- probably due to the fact that Garron Tower had been converted to a hotel by McNeill’s of Larne in the early years of the Twentieth Century. The hotel offered employment to both female staff in the hotel and male workers to maintain the magnificent grounds in order. Some of the Galbally women took a load of turf on their backs from the mountain to the clachan each morning before starting their day’s work at Garron Tower.
But the hotel was an asset in another way – for the large number of Scottish holidaymakers who came to the area in the first half of the Twentieth Century, the hotel’s bar was a major attraction. One older resident related how the visitors slept in barns and on mattresses on the floors. All were quite happy as refreshments were nearby. However, had they come a generation sooner a spirit merchant was in situ. Nancy Leckie (a native of Lower Galboly) operated a shebeen in the clachan, its location is indicated on our map of Galboly. There was no shortage of customers as the product was well renowned from Glenarm to Cushendun; however it ceased trading circa 1880.
In the era of kelp burning, from which iodine was extracted, there were kelp kilns at Falavee and The White Lady.
Despite these sources of local employment emigration to America and England took its toll and with newly weds being offered modern accommodation locally the population declined rapidly in the years after the 1939-45 war.
In the Richard Dobbs survey of 1817 it is noted that the clachan had its own Mass Rock at which ‘Fr. McDonnell does duty in the open air’. The large white rock, Craig ban, was also referred to by Monsignor James O’Laverty in his account of the Diocese of Down and Connor. The worshipers assembled on the adjacent sheltered green which was protected by small stone-built look-out posts which commanded a view of the approaches. During the penal era such acts of worship were forbidden and celebrant and worshippers had to evade military law enforcers. At this time Galbally Upper could accomodate around forty inhabitants and in the 1901 census there were thirty four inhabitants. The McAuley family opened a shop at near-by Falavee which would have supplied the population at Galboly.
Former residents of the clachan recall that the residents of the clachan used to gather in one house to hear Mary Murphy, the post-woman, read every line of the Irish Weekly. Charlie O’Boyle’s house (1b in the Griffith’s valuation) was a Mecca for ceildidhers, dancers and card-players from as far away as Cushendall.