Cushendun

Cushendun
Scots: Cushenduincode: sco is deprecated
Irish: Cois Abhann Duinne or Bun Abhann Duinne
240px
Cushendun  Cushendun shown within Northern Ireland
Population	138 (2001 Census)
District	Causeway Coast and Glens
County	County Antrim
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BALLYMENA
Postcode district	BT44
Dialling code	028
EU Parliament	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	North Antrim
NI Assembly	North Antrim
List of places UK Northern Ireland Antrim

Cushendun (from Irish Cois Abhann Duinne, meaning "beside the River Dun") is a small coastal village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits off the A2 coast road between Cushendall and Ballycastle. It has a sheltered harbour and lies at the mouth of the River Dun and Glendun, one of the nine Glens of Antrim. The Mull of Kintyre in Scotland is only about 15 miles away across the North Channel and can be seen easily on clear days. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 138 people. It is part of Causeway Coast and Glens district.

The nearby hamlet of Knocknacarry is located approximately 0.6 miles to the west.

History

File:Bridge over Glendun River, Cushendun, Co. Antrim - geograph.org.uk - 1381586.jpg

Cushendun Bridge

Cushendun village, was designed for Ronald McNeill, the Conservative MP and author later Lord Cushendun in the style of a Cornish village by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis. He is buried in the Church of Ireland graveyard near his nationalist cousin Ada or Ide McNeill, Roger Casement's friend and admirer who died in 1959.

Since 1954 most of the village and the parkland around Glenmona to the north has been owned by the National Trust. Cushendun's picturesque coastal setting in the heart of the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, together with its unique architectural inheritance, resulted in designation as a Conservation area in 1980.

People

• Poet Moira O'Neill's home was across the bay from Cushendun. She was the mother of Molly Keane, the noted Irish writer.
• The English poet John Masefield and his wife, Constance, younger daughter of Nicolas Crommelin of nearby Rockport, spent many holidays in the town.

Robert Emmets GAC

In 1904 Dominic Quinn, Daniel Black and Willie McLaughlin founded the first Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club in Cushendun known as the Brian Boru’s. The club participated in the first Feis-na-nGleann in 1904 and after defeating Glenarm, lost to Carey in the final of the “Shield of Heroes”. In 2004 the club celebrated its centenary in a large marquee located in the grounds of Glenmona House. Nicky Brennan (then president of the GAA) and other GAA dignitaries from throughout Ireland joined in the celebrations.

During most of their existence Cushendun has been a junior hurling club but on a few occasions has moved up to the senior ranks. The club played Gaelic football in 1934 and 1972 but history and tradition in a small parish meant that the game was never popular and it failed to flourish for any significant period of time. The pinnacle of the clubs achievements has been the winning of the All County Senior Championship in 1931. Since that date the Intermediate Championship has been won on three occasions-1973, 1992 and 2007. The Junior Championship was also secured in 1963 along with several Feis competitions and leagues. Camogie has been played with a fair degree of success during several periods throughout the past century but has always been difficult to maintain.

One of the major highlights of the clubs history was the construction of the new pitch in 1967/68 followed by the building of the new pavilion which was officially opened by then president of the GAA Jack Boothman in 1995. A second floodlit pitch was added to the complex at Lig-na-Arigid Park in 1999.

External links

• Cushendun website
• Cushendun information
• http://www.cushendungac.com/