From Altmore Street to the Headless Cross

The road from Altmore Street in Glenarm Village, up the Town Brae and the Feystown Road to the Headless Cross – the area where the road reaches a gap in the mountains, beside Linford Ancient Earth works, leading to Cairncastle and Larne is approximately 5 miles. It is part of an ancient route between two of the oldest settlements in the country, namely Glenarm and Carrickfergus. It runs southwards up the eastern side of Glenarm Glen.
I lived on this road for the first 30 years of my life, on a farm, in a townland known on old maps as Ailt/Ault or Gowkstown. I travelled this stretch of road by foot, on horseback, by horse-drawn carriages, by bicycle and by motor car. There is a ‘Giant’s Grave’ or wedge shaped tomb literally on the farmhouse doorstep at Ailt, so my interest in local history was awakened at an early age.
The following article is therefore a miscellany about ancient sites, interesting events and famous people, going back thousands of years from the present, on that stretch of road from Altmore Street to the Headless Cross. The dilemma facing me was how to tie in such diverse subjects in the article and it seemed the best way was to simply start at the beginning, i.e. Altmore Street and proceed to the end – The Headless Cross. I am indebted to my late father, John Mulvenna, Ailt/Gowkstown for the great oral tradition which he practised and passed on and the interest he created in me for local history.
Altmore Street
Altmore (Ir. Big height) Street starts at the junction of Castle Street, which leads into Glenarm Castle and The Vennal which was an old road leading out of the village. The Altmore burn tumbles down parallel to The Vennal and flows under Altmore Street before emptying into the Glenarm river a short distance away. Altmore Street is narrow at the Castle Street end and widens out considerably at the Town Brae end. A famous family was born and reared at Number 10 Altmore Street by Archibald and Rosetta (McAuley) McNeill. They had eight children, five boys and three girls. Archibald McNeill ran a general store at No. 10 and was also a self-employed builder. The most notable and well known of the family was Eoin McNeill, born 15th May 1867.
This most famous son of Glenarm played a prominent part, as a statesman and scholar, in the shaping of modern Ireland. He received his education at St. Malachy’s College, Belfast and University College Dublin. He decided at the age of 21 to make the study of the Irish language his life work, for as a child, he had picked up a few Irish phrases in his native Glenarm Glen where it was still the living tongue. He was co-founder and first secretary of the Gaelic League in 1893. He became the first Professor of Irish at Drumcondra Teacher Training College, Dublin in 1897 and in 1909 became Professor of Irish History at University College, Dublin. He was the author of numerous books on his favourite subjects.
He was very much involved in the politics of the time and became Leader of the Irish Volunteers in 1913. He objected to the timing of the Rising in 1916 but Pearse and comrades pressed ahead. Although Eoin McNeill took no part in the rising he was arrested with the other leaders, tried by court-martial and sentenced to penal servitude for life. He was released with the other prisoners and continued in politics as an active Sinn Feiner, being elected for the City of Derry in 1918. He was Minister of Finance in the first Dail set up in 1918. He took the pro-treaty side and was elected T.D. for Clare in 1923. In the second Dail he served as Minister of Education and Speaker. He was the representative of the Free State Government on the Boundary Commission which was set up to sort out the position of the border between North and South. However, he resigned from the Boundary Commission in controversial circumstances and for reasons which have never been revealed. He retired from politics shortly afterwards in 1927 and devoted himself entirely to his first love, Irish language and Irish history. A man of great intellect and learning he certainly left his mark on the History of Ireland. His wife was a sister of Dr. Moore a well known Belfast medical man and an aunt of novelist Brian Moore. They had ten children. Eoin McNeill died on the 15th October 1945 and was given a state funeral.
James McNeill (1869 – 1938), older brother of Eoin, was educated at St. Malachy’s College, Belfast and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He embarked on a career in the Indian Civil Service after leaving university. He returned to Ireland in 1914 where he joined Sinn Fein. He was appointed Free State High Commissioner in London in 1922 and acted as Governor General from 1928-1932.
The Town Brae leads from Altmore Street up to its junction with the Feystown Road. It is bounded on one side for some way by a high wall known as the Park Wall. The building of this wall around the Earl of Antrim’s estate provided much needed employment during the Great Famine.
The Libbert (Ir. Overhanging lip of land) The first townland we come to up the Town Brae is The Libbert. It was in this townland that the first official G.A.A. club in North Antrim, Shane O’Neill’s Hurling Club, Glenarm, played their matches. The first hurling pitch used was on the right hand side, going up, about 50 yards before the junction with the Feystown Road. Various fields were used in this townland down the years as pitches and were always known as Gibson’s Field. The club was founded in 1903. The founding fathers of the club were; John (Benmore) Clarke, owner of the Antrim Arms Hotel, Glenarm and a native of Ballycastle, James McRann, local schoolteacher and a native of Sligo, and F.J. Biggar, a well known Belfast businessman and historian, along with local people, John Clarke was a noted Gael, a lover of all things Irish and an author who wrote under the pen name of “Benmore”. F.J. Biggar provided the first rig which consisted of a white jersey with the Red Hand of the O’Neills on the front. The Great Festival of the Glens, The Glens Feis, was held at The Libbert in 1932. The game of Hurling proved so popular that three other teams soon sprang up in the parish – Owen Roes, Feystown; Shamrock, Mullaghsandal and Sarsfields, Carnegear. Incidentally Shamrocks, Mullaghsandal got to a County Senior Final in 1922 against Tir na n’og but were unable to fulfil the fixture due to ‘lack of transport’! As well as providing the pitches and the sheds for togging out, the Gibson family produced some great players for the club the most notable being Arthur, Dan and James. Arthur and Dan also represented their County of Antrim with distinction. In 1938, Arthur and Dan Gibson, Johnny McAteer, Pearse Bradley, Geordie McIlgorm and Alex McCollum from Glenarm played for Glenariff Ossians and helped them to win the County Senior Title.
Coalmining
A right hand turn at the end of the Town Brae takes us onto the Feystown Road. A fairly steep brae is encountered about 150 metres up this road and it is known as the Coalpit Brae for reasons, which will become obvious. Two thirds of the way up this brae, near the bend, above and below the road, on the boundary of West Libbert and Mullaghconnelly coal, lignite and bauxite were mined during the 1800s and early 1900s by the Antrim Iron Ore Company and the Eglington Chemical Company. The mining operations petered out early in the last century but some of the mine shafts are still visible. A small glen, at right angels to the road here goes under the quaint name of Pheasant Glen.
Mullaghane Ring For (Mullachan – round built up heap, or, sparse hilltop) Up at the top of the Libbert Hill is the ring fort of Mullaghane. It is circular in shape with a diameter of approximately 50 metres. Ring forts were an old type of farmstead used by the Celts. They were mainly circular in design, surrounded by a stone and/or earthen wall and a ditch. Sometimes the surrounding bank would be topped by a wooden fence. The dwelling house and storage buildings would have been inside the fort and some of the adjacent land would have been cultivated. The one entrance would have been closed at night-time. Animals may have been brought inside the fort at night for safety.
Mullaghconnelly (Connelly’s Hilltop) Moving on from the Coalpit brae we come to a level stretch of road known as McKenty’s level, so named after a local family who lived there in the past. This is the townland of Mullaghconnelly. One of the family, Henry McKenty, was a well known, respected and famous character. He built an abattoir here and ran a butchery business as well as an extensive farming operation. He had a novel way of keeping debt to a minimum. The names of debtors and the amount they owed was written on the inside of the back door of the horse-drawn butcher’s cart, so the information very soon became public knowledge and as the saying goes, got no smaller in the telling. Henry McKenty had the unfortunate experience, at a young age, of seeing both his parents pass away on the same day – 8th May 1888.
Dunarragan (Arragan’s fort) or Cruckandhu (the black rock) The road rises again from McKenty’s level as we enter the townland of Dunarragan or Cruckandhu. It was here in Daniel Galvin’s farmhouse at Cruckandhu, that the famous Ardclinis Crozier was found and identified by the Rev. J. O’Laverty, noted historian and author, accompanied by the Rev. Starkey, PP Glenarm. It had been attached to the Church of Ardclinis near Waterfoot. During the penal days it was left with a family called Galvin for safekeeping. The Galvin family later moved to Cruckandhu, Glenarm. The crozier passed from the Galvin family to the Mor Magill family with the marriage of Margaret Galvin to Patrick Mor Magill, Aughaboy, Glenarm. A daughter of this union, Alice Mor Magill McAllister inherited the crozier. Subsequently, she sold the crozier to the National Museum in Dublin and donated the proceeds towards the renovation of Feystown Chapel. The crozier is depicted on the altar rails of this church with a summarised history inscribed in the porch. There is a story told about the above named Daniel Galvin. He was away from home in Cruckandhu for several months one time and his sheepdog lay idly about the cassay or farmyard pining for him. One day the dog got up, trotted out the loanan, proceeded up the Feystown Road and lo and behold didn’t he meet the bold Daniel coming home about three miles away at the Headless Cross, coincidence or what?
Another story passed down about Cruckandhu concerns a well known local poacher as told by himself. Grouse were very plentiful back in the mid 1900s and they were inclined to feed in cornfields early in the day in the season of the year. This gentleman had noticed a flock of grouse feeding in a corn stubble field at Cruckandhu at daylight. He concealed himself inside a small stack of corn, known as a hut, during the house of darkness, with a fully loaded double barrelled shotgun pointing outwards. Dawn broke and from his vantage point the field seemed to be black with grouse. He blasted off both barrels and rushed out from his cover only to find the grouse scattering in disarray without even the “loss of a feather”. Alas, two very common sounds from the last century, the call of the corncrake and grouse, have gone forever.
Another notable man, Henry McNeill (1836-1904) was born adjacent to Cruckandhu in Deerpark. He started off in a small shop in Larne and eventually became the owner of several hotels and a flourishing business. He pioneered the Tourist Industry and opened up the Glens by running horse drawn carriages from the Port of Larne down the new Coast Road to Glenarm, Carnlough, Garron Tower, Waterfoot and Cushendall.
Ailt (ravine) sometimes spelt Ault or Gowkstown – Plane Crash
On a cold, dry December day in the early 1940s I was, either, helping or hindering my older brother Charlie around the cassay or farmyard at our farmhouse home at Ailt/Gowkstown. Suddenly, a low flying aircraft zoomed overhead and seconds later embedded itself in a nearby heathery hillock about 300 yards away. My brother Charlie, pointing excitedly skywards, lifted me onto his shoulders to enable me to get a better view of another remarkable sight. A parachutist was floating along in the wake of the plane. My brother dropped me to the ground and set off at a gallop towards the crash.
At 1.15 pm on the 18th December 1943 an American Mustang Fighter aircraft crashed in the townland of Ailt/Gowkstown on a hill owned by the Earl of Antrim. The pilot, and only person on board, was 2nd Lieutenant Piffeth, U.S. Airforce. He was observed by a local farmer bailing out about one mile south of the crash site and came to ground about 100 yards further on from the crash. The plane was on a test flight from Langford Lodge U.S. Army base and airfield at Crumlin, Co. Antrim. The pilot suffered an injury to one leg and a wooden door, removed from an outhouse, was used to convey him to the county road and thence by ambulance to hospital in Larne. A recent visit to the crash site confirms that the cavity has been filled in, all the debris has disappeared and the only indication of the crash is a slight hollow in the ground.
Wedge shaped tomb at Ailt/Gowkstown
A ‘Giant’s Grave’ in the field in front of the farmhouse, known as the meadow, allowed our young imaginations to run riot, especially when the grave measured about 20 feet long by some 6 feet wide and was surrounded by massive stones. It was, in fact, a wedge shaped tomb, so called because the entrance is always wider and higher than the back end. Most authorities suggest that these tombs were built by the first Celtic peoples who came to Ireland from France sometime before 2000 BC. Tombs of a similar design are found in France and Brittany. Another feature of these burial places was that the entrance always faced south west, into the setting winter sun, suggesting the practice of sun worship by the builders. There are 400-500 wedge shaped tombs in Ireland, mainly in southern and western parts, but stretching up to Donegal with a few outliers in Antrim.
The tomb at Ailt/Gowkstown is fairly well preserved, although an outer circle of stones was removed sometime in the past. It is thought these stones may have been used in the construction of the laneway beside the grave. In a wedge shaped tomb there is a central gallery, for the burial of cremated remains, entered by a short ante-chamber which may be blocked by a stone slab. The burial chamber is roofed over with flat stones and surrounded by a wall of large rocks. This tomb was opened and examined in 1870 by Lord Antrim and Dr. W.J. Holden. A collection of pottery as well as cremated remains were found. The pottery can be found in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The tomb at Ailt/Gowkstown is reasonably intact and is visible from the Feystown Road, about 100 metres distance.
Fern Spring
Spring wells were extremely important in the countryside before the advent of mains water. One such spring, known as Fern Spring, rose in this townland about 100 metres from the road in the Earl of Antrim’s holding. Local folklore says that this spring was never known to dry up “in the memory of man”. There was also a very strong flow of water which never flagged, even in very dry weather. In the summer droughts, which were a feature of the mid 1900s, it was not unusual to see locals collecting their drinking water in creamery cans and buckets at the Fern Spring as most of the other wells in the area had dried up. The spring water crosses the road and flows down the side of the Hurling Field, the present headquarters of Shane O’Neills Hurling Club, Glenarm. The name, Fern Spring, probably arises from the fact that it used to be surrounded by a type of fern, known as bracken, before the advent of modern weedkillers. It was also a great source of watercress and manys the restaurateur from the surrounding towns made good use of this free supply. It was also handed down that if a very tired or listless person drank a pint of Fern Spring water they would be quickly restored to vitality.
Old Hurling Field
A natural arena, near the Fern Spring, in Lord Antrim’s ground was used for many years in the last century as a local hurling pitch. Although not the full size it had a natural springy surface which never cut up and was known as Antrim’s Field. Every evening in the summer time the local sportsmen would assemble there and manys the fierce battle ensued. Sometimes two teams were picked on the night, or sometimes a more formal arrangement such as Glenarm Village versus the rest took place. Manys the sore ankle and skinned knuckle was endured as the game ebbed and flowed, as if life itself depended on the result. Afterwards, a long cool drink of water from the Fern Spring usually restored everyone to full health.
The “Carr” Road
It is in this townland that the old route gradually moved several hundred metres in an easterly direction from the present road and was known locally as the ‘Carr’ Road. The word ‘carr’ either comes from the shortened version of the horse-drawn carriage or from the actual name of such a vehicle, like a long or low backed car. A strong oral tradition suggest that this was the ancient route between Glenarm and Carrickfergus, a distance of about 18 miles. These two towns date back to the 12th century, at least, and both have castles, with Carrickfergus being noted as the chief town of north eastern Ulster up to the early 1700s. In 1704, the united parishes of Carrickfergus, Larne , Ballyclare and Glenarm were under the charge of Father Edmund Moore who resided in Glenarm. Highways in the County of the Town of Carrickfergus and the County of Antrim, ‘the north gate opens into a fair large highway, this highway leads to Larne, Glenarm and so to all the lower parts of the county’ Richard Dobbs, Carrickfergus, 6th April 1683 (G. Hill, The MacDonnells of Antrim). Sir Arthur Chichester completed the walls around Carrickfergus about the year 1608. They were 6 feet thick and 18 feet high. There were four gates, anciently named Glenarm or Spital Gate, now called North Gate, Woodburn or West Gate, more recently called Irish Gate, Water Gate and Quay Gate (O’Laverty – History of the Diocese of Down and Connor Vol. III). The numerous connections between Glenarm and Carrickfergus before the present Coast Road was built lend credence to the ancient Coach Road theory. Part of this old road is still visible in the Ailt/Gowkstown and Clady townlands and is still used by local farmers for feeding livestock.
Standing Stone
In a field opposite Ailt/Gowkstown there is a standing stone visible from the Feystown Road, about 50 metres distant. Standing stones date from 3000 BC up to 1000 BC and are thought to mark ancient burial sites.
Iomarie Cam (Ir. Crooked ridge or drill) The third field southwards from the loanan or laneway up to the farmhouse at Ailt/Gowkstown was always known as Iomaire Cam – pronounced ummera cam – meaning crooked ridge or drill. Probably the name originates from the Irish liking of satire. Some poor farmer had made his potato ridges crooked at some stage and he was never going to be allowed to forget it. Thereafter, his field and probably himself was always known as Iomaire Cam
Feystown Nature Reserve
In the late 1950s, my brother Arthur and I planted out a piece of rough ground with spruce and fir trees. Little did we realise that more than thirty years later these same trees would overhang Feystown Nature Reserve, no less. A very rare plant, Geranium Sylvaticum or Wood Cranesbill was discovered here in the 1980s on a narrow strip of land parallel to the Feystown Road. This ground is owned by the parish and the Ulster Wildlife Trust, a charitable organisation, have taken responsibility for preserving the plant. The plant reaches a height of about 2 feet and the flowers are of a pinkish-purple hue. This rare plant is also found in the Burren, Co. Clare, a place where one hundred wedge shaped tombs are also located.
One hundred metres further southwards is Feystown Public Elementary School. Built in 1910, it now lies vacant, having been closed in 1972. The first teachers in this new school were Mrs Emily Marinan and Miss Annie Hannon. The last Principal of Feystown School was Mrs Bridie Mulvenna, Craigyhill. This school had replaced an older one situated about 100 metres further south beside the church. This building was converted to stables and used by the patrons of the nearby church to house their animals while they attended services. The slates from the old school were used to roof the new chapel at Ballygally in the 1950s. The old school was levelled at a later date and a small car park now occupies the site.
Feystown Church
The adjacent church, St. Mary’s, was built in 1828 by Rev. John O’Neill and has been refurbished several times since. A fine sculptured statue of St. Patrick as a youth is on the south westerly gable wall facing towards Slemish. This fine piece of work was cast by Angela, Countess of Antrim in the 1960s. In the graveyard, the McKenty headstone bears the following poignant inscription; “Erected by Neil McKenty in memory of his father Henry McKenty who died on the 8th May 1888 aged 92 years and his mother Martha McKenty who died on the same day aged 80 years”. On a headstone opposite the back door of the porch is a bullet mark, said to have occurred during the civil unrest of the early 1920s. Apparently, worshippers standing at the back door were fired on from the high ground at Ballygilbert.
Old Hurling Field
The old hurling Field of Feystown Owen Roes was about 150 metres due west from the church. It was here in the early 1900s that Jamsey Magill, Mullaghsandal scored a famous point from a distance of 70 yards, from a ground ball, unheard of in those days. Later, he confided to a friend that there was a rounded stone just above the surface and covered by a layer of grass. Timing his shot to perfection and using the stone as a tee, he connected with the moving ball and, as they say, the rest is history.
Clady (claideach – mountain stream)
Above the graveyard, in the townland of Clady, there are five arable fields comprising about 20 acres. This ground was always known as Feystown farm. The house on this ground, even when it was only a small cottage in bygone days, was always called Feystown House. The most southerly of these fields has a level area in a hollow, out of sight of the county road, known as the Holm. It was here in the early part of the last century that the local company of the Irish Volunteers trained and drilled.
Stone Axe Head
In the hill beside the holm in the 1940s, I made a rare discovery while hunting rabbits. On a sheep pad through the heather I found a perfectly shaped, smooth, stone axe head. It was given to Master Duffin, Principal of Feystown School who passed it on to the Ulster Museum.
Feystown (Town of the O’Fey – origin of the name)
One hundred and fifty metres, approximately, east of Feystown House lies the clachan or homestead of the O’Fey clan. The name Feystown is derived from this clan name. All that remains of the clachan are the wallsteads of about 12 small buildings, 6 on each side of the street. The aforementioned ‘Carr’ Road passed through the centre of the O’Fey homestead on its way southwards towards Dunteige, the Headless Cross and Carrickfergus. The O’Fey name has died out in the district. The Griffiths Valuation of Tenements, 1861, Parish of Tickmacrevan states that James O’Fey resided at 25 Toberwine Street, Glenarm. There is a headstone in the graveyard of Carnlough old chapel, twelve metres in from the Coast Road gate, which reads ‘Erected by James O’Fey of Glenarm in memory of his beloved wife R …? O’Fey who departed this life …? November 1871 also his mother Margaret O’Fey who departed this life …’ remainder illegible.

The Old Chapel

About 50 metres north east of the O’Fey clachan lies the ruins of the old chapel. Only the remnants of four stone walls, rectangular in shape remain. This church was built in 1810 by Rev James McMullan, PP Glenarm and served the population up until 1828 when the present church was built. Mary Gibson of Ailt/Gowkstown, who incidentally was my great grandmother’s sister, was the last child to be baptised in the old church and the first to be confirmed in the new one. An adjacent well, which supplied the needs of the old church, was considered a holy well. The water from this well was piped down to the present church in the 1960s. Rev. James Smith, PP Glenarm, organised a procession and service at the old chapel during the 1950s.
Dressing Stone
There is a large rock, 6 feet high, 5 feet long and five feet wide, on a height overlooking the old chapel. The reason for the name can only be guessed at, with the most common explanation being that it was used by church goers to fix their attire before going into the church.
Loughy’s Rock
Two hundred metres southwards, on the path of the old ‘Carr’ Road, there is a rocky outcrop known as Loughy’s Rock. This was the spot where, tradition says, a local raparee named Loughy held up the Glenarm-Carrickfergus coach on several occasions. In the upheavals during the 17th and 18th centuries some dispossessed people resorted to desperate means for survival and they were known as raparees.
Flough (wet place), Ballygawn (townland of the calves), Ballycoose (townland of the caves) A further 200 metres south east lies a large swamp about 10 acres in size known as The Flough. Four townlands meet here, namely Clady, Dunteige, Ballygawn and Ballycoose. On one occasion the aforementioned Loughy was being hotly pursued by soldiers on horseback in the vicinity of this marsh. There was only one narrow path through the middle of the Flough and, of course, Loughy gratefully took it. He made his escape and watched from a distance as the mounted soldiers floundered and stuck in the swampy ground.
Sean Bui’s Glen – meaning fair haired John’s glen) Not far from the Flough on the border between Ballygilbert and Ballygawn, there is a hollow in the ground which local tradition has named as Sean Bui’s glen. Apparently Sean Bui was wanted by the authorities and he used to hide out here. Nothing else is known about this character.
Clady Burn (Claideach – mountain stream) The Clady burn, whose plentiful supply of speckled wild trout provided much fun and food in bygone days, rises in the Flough and tumbles down the glenside between Clady and Dunteige. An old lime kiln is situated at Clady Bridge on the Feystown Road.
Richard Campbell, US Attorney and Judge
Fifty metres southwards from Clady Bridge the Drumcrow Road branches off towards Ballymena. The first farm on the left down this road was the birth place of Richard Campbell who achieved fame and fortune in the USA. The farm is bounded on the eastern side by the Feystown Road. Richard was the son of Felix Campbell, Deerpark and Mary Connolly, Aughagash. He received his early education at Feystown National School, where his father was a teacher, and at St. Malachy’s College, Belfast. He went to America at the age of seventeen. Here, he worked as a journalist in New York, Philadelphia and Washington. He studied law and languages at Georgetown University, Washington D.C., graduating with honours in 1899. He was appointed in 1902, by the Roosevelt government, to the Department of Justice in the Philippine Islands, eventually becoming a Judge of the Supreme Court of America. He retired from the judiciary in 1916 and opened legal offices in New York. In 1921, the American Committee for Relief in Ireland was formed with Morgan J. O’Brien as chairman, Richard Campbell as secretary and John J. Pulleyn as treasurer. Cardinal Gibbons and Bishop Michael J. Gallagher were members of this committee, along with Senators David I. Walsh and Thomas J. Walsh. Judge Daniel F. Cohalan was a keen supporter and fund raiser. By 1st January 1922 the Relief Committee had raised in the USA, the sum of five million dollars, a massive amount in 1922. Three million dollars had already been distributed in Ireland, through the White Cross Society, during 1921. The following is a summary of the allocation of funds in 1921:
1. For relief in Belfast $775,000.00
2. For relief of personal distress outside Belfast $925,000.00

1. Cost of providing shelter and for repair of houses and $700,000.00

Shops, for over 600 families
4. For relief of families whose breadwinner was killed $600,000.00
Total $3,000,000.00
A letter of appreciation, from the Irish delegation engaged in negotiations with the British Government in London was addressed to Judge Richard Campbell, Secretary and John J. Pulleyn, Treasurer of the American Committee for Relief in Ireland. It was signed by Arthur Griffith, R.C. Barton, Michael Collins, George Gavan Duffy and Eamonn Duggan and dated 29th October 1921. Judge Richard Campbell visited Ireland in 1921 on Relief Committee business and paid a visit to the family home at Deerpark. A challenge hurling match between Cushendall Pearses and players from Glenarm Shane O’Neill’s, Feystown Owen Roes and Mullaghsandal Shamrocks, was arranged in Gibson’s Field in his honour. He threw in the ball to start the game and diplomatically retired to a safe distance to observe the fray. His brother Frank, who married Rosena Mulvenna, Ailt/Gowkstown, inherited the farm which eventually passed on to his nephew, also called Richard, who was married to Molly McAuley, Glenariffe. He passed away without issue on 26th January 2000, thus bringing to a close the Campbell name at Deerpark.
Craigyhill and Dunteige (Teige’s Fort) There is a long cairn grave on the southern slope of Craigyhill in the townland of Dunteige. This grave has been identified as Cairnasagart or the Priest’s Cairn. The chamber is ruined and only four upright stones remain. This tomb was explored by Lord Antrim and Dr. J.S. Holden around 1870. Cremated bones along with four broken Neolithic bowls, two lozenge shaped flint arrowheads and seventeen hollow scrapers were discovered. They are now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Dunteige Wedge Shaped Tomb
The journey proceeds past Loughdoo Road junction to the Dunteige Bridge. One quarter of a mile E.N.E. from the bridge there is a wedge shaped gallery tomb similar to the one at Ailt/Gowkstown. This monument is visible from the Feystown Road, on a height to the left, going towards Cairncastle. This tomb is fairly well preserved and was investigated in 1870 by Lord Antrim and Dr. Holden but there are no reports of any findings. Fifty metres, approximately, from this ancient grave, there is a large rock about three feet square upon which are inscribed two crosses. The cross on the flat top of the stone is now barely discernible, due to its weather-beaten condition, but the ornamental cross incised on one of the sides is plainly visible, measuring eighteen inches long and twelve inches wide. According to O’Laverty, this sculptured slab is known as the Priest’s Grave while some authorities suggest that it was used as a Mass Rock in the Penal Times.
The Headless Cross and Linford (the pool of the ford) The Headless Cross is the local olden name for that area, where the road from Cairncastle to the valley of Glenarm, reaches its highest point, at the pass, over the mountains. There is a small car park situated at this spot and a plaque in honour of Judge Campbell is located here. Let O’Laverty take up the story; “Along Knockdhu, is a pass leading from Carncastle to the Valley of the Glenarm River, evidently, once important, as it is defended by sundry earthworks, two of these, one circular and one square, but not much raised above the level of the ground, defended the end of the pass in the townland of Linford. At a little distance is the cairn known as the Headless Cross. There is now no cross there, but when this name was attached to it, there were obviously the remains of a cross erected, probably, where warriors had fallen defending that pass.” (History of Down & Connor Vol. IV)
A large standing stone is visible about 100 metres in from the Feystown Road. There is a magnificent view out over the Sea of Moyle towards Scotland from this vantage point. The present day Ulster Way passes through here on its way out over the mountain to Glenarm Village. Our short journey of about five miles has ended. Time wise, we covered more than four thousand years, from the rare flower of 2000 AD back to the wedge shaped tombs and stone axe head of earlier than 2000 BC. The high ground travelled is suitable for cattle and sheep farming, thus, less upheaval, with the ancient monuments surviving almost intact up until the present day. The whole area could be described as an archaeological landscape where the human presence can be traced right back to prehistoric times. I sometimes wonder why the Tourist Industry has not made better use of these historic monuments.
This article could not have been completed without the help of the following people, to whom I am deeply indebted:-
To Yvonee, Elizabeth and all the staff at the Local Studies Service, Ballymena Library a sincere thanks for being so helpful;
To Ernie Cromie from the Ulster Aviation Society for detailed information on the plane crash, grateful thanks;
To Maureen McKeown, Aughaboy for the priceless photographs of the buildings no longer standing, her foresight proved invaluable;
To my daughter Catherine for all her help and support and to my niece Clare for her help, advice and typing.
A word of thanks also to those landowners and friends on the Feystown Road for, not only, allowing me access to their land to take photographs and view the sites, but also for supporting me fully with their local knowledge.
Bibliography

Focloir – Gaeilge – Bearla by Niall O’Nonaill.
History of the Diocese of Down & Connor – Vols. III and Iv by Rev. J. O’Laverty.
The MacDonnells of Antrim by George Hill.
Ulster Journals of Archaeology – various.
America & the Fight for Irish Freedom: 186-1922 by Charles Callan Tansill.
Early Ireland – A Field Guide by Anthony Weir.
Ancient Monuments of Ireland – (HMSO).
Feis na n’Gleann by Seamus Clarke.
Living Places by Colm J. Donnelly.
Antrim Coast & Glens – Industrial Heritage by Fred Hammond.
History of Ulster by Ramsay Colles.
Griffiths Valuation of Tenements, 1861 – Parish of Tickmacrevan.