Portbraddon

Portbraddon
County Antrim
Portbraddan Harbour
Location
Grid reference:	D063446
Location:	55°14’13"N, 6°19’48"W
Data
Post town:	Ballycastle
Postcode:	BT54
Local Government
Council:	Causeway Coast & Glens

Portbraddon or Portbraddan is a beautiful hamlet on the spectacular north coast of County Antrim. The name of the hamlet is from the Gaelic language (whether Irish Gaelic or Hebridean Gaelic is unknown) from Port Bradán, meaning "Port of the salmon", and indeed the hamlet has an ancient salmon fishing station.

There are fine, wild views from here out across Whitepark Bay to Ballintoy Church and the basalt islands known as the Parks which shelter the harbour of Ballintoy.

An ancient salmon fishing station stood here and the village still has a working slipway for salmon fishermen. It is possible to walk from Portbraddon to Dunseverick Harbour following a coastal path which passes through Gid Point, a naturally formed hole in the headland. Parking here is very limited though and not to be recommended for visitors.

On a low spring tide it is possible to walk from here to Whitepark Bay beach and on to Ballintoy harbour.

About the village

A local myth, which still appears in some eager tourism promotions, holds that in Portbraddon is the smallest church in Ireland. The building in question is no ancient church though: it is a cow byre built in the 1950s but given the status of a listed building, denoted as an ancient church, by mistake. Listing was withdrawn when the mistake was discovered.

There is in fact an ancient church site in Portbraddon: the church of Templastragh which was built by St Goban in 648, and which lies a thousand yards outside Portbraddon, on the cliff-top towards Dunseverick harbour.

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Portbraddon)