Since 2014, volunteers from the Friends of Ballycastle Museum have played a vital community role in supporting Causeway Coast and Glens Museum Services to extend Ballycastle Museum’s opening hours and engage the community using the collection. In 2026, the Friends successfully applied for Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Culture Arts and Heritage funding to carry out a study visit to Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre. The visit was part of a capacity building programme for the Friends in advance of the restoration, extension and refurbishment of the Ballycastle Museum, carried out with the support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The close proximity between North Antrim and Kintyre has meant that people, families and groups, have been passing back and forth for millennia. Until the construction of the Antrim Coast Road (completed in 1842), the remoteness of the Glens of Antrim from Belfast and the larger towns of the Route meant that the north channel between Antrim and Kintyre acted as a thoroughfare rather than a barrier. Many family names are common across both areas and kinship ties have traditionally run deep.

In the lead up to the study trip, the Friends of Ballycastle Museum fostered new connections across the north channel with their counterparts in South Kintyre, the Friends of Campbeltown Museum. This trip gave the two groups the opportunity to meet in person for the first time and explore how community volunteering can be effective in supporting local heritage and history. Three members from the Friends of Ballycaslte Museum took part, accompanied for part of the study visit by Nic Wright, Ballycastle Project Officer of CCGBC Museum Service.

Just 11 miles across the sea of Moyle and the north Channel as the crow flies, and tucked in behind the Mull of Kintyre, Campbeltown has both a museum and heritage centre, and shares a lot in common with Ballycastle. The Friends of Ballycastle Museum were delighted to see visit Campbeltown Museum and Campbeltown Heritage Centre and meet relevant volunteers and officials committed to heritage and history in South Kintyre.

Many of the themes explored in Campbeltown’s beautiful museum and fascinating heritage centre are strikingly similar to our own in Ballycastle – from the archaeological connections, to the folk traditions and the connection to the sea. It was great to discuss everything from museum management and collections care, to community engagement and outreach.

Angus Martin, Chairman of the Friends of Campbeltown Museum and local historian in South Kintyre, facilitated a visit for the Friends to Southend. This is one of the closest points on the Mull to the Glens of Antrim. The area includes Dunaverty rock and fort, once a stronghold of the McDonnell clan. The Friends were able to see familiar names on headstones in Kilcolmkill churchyard, common to Kintyre and the Glens of Antrim, a testimony of the close connections across the water. The churchyard also contains the ruins of a church founded by St Columba. According to local tradition, this coastal spot is where St Columba first stepped onto Scottish shores in AD 563 after leaving Ireland.

Adding value to the trip, the Friends included a visit to the nearby fort of Dunadd – the centre of the Early Medieval Irish colonial kingdom of Dalriada (c.AD 500-800) – as well as  Auchindrain, the best-preserved example of a traditional Scottish township.

Concluding the visit, Ballycastle Friends joined their Campbeltown counterparts in the Ardshiel Hotel, for an evening of music celebrating the historical, cultural and genealogical links between Kintyre and the Glens. Arran Brown, the talented young Campbeltown piper, opened and closed the event with a set of stirring tunes and a local group, The Sarachs, also performed tunes from both sides of the water, including those collected by prominent Coleraine folklorist and music collector, Sam Henry.

The Friends of Ballycastle Museum were delighted with the reception from the Campbeltown ‘Friends’ and the door is open for a return visit when the Ballycastle Museum reopens. The visit has somewhat united both ‘Friends’ groups through their shared heritage and a shared passion for engaging both locals and visitors alike in their local history.

Click here to find out more about the Ballycastle project