Page 1 of 3
 |
|
Portballintrae lies at the mouth of a shallow river valley which was once the outflow of melting glaciers,Portballintrae Harbour is well protected within a small horseshoe bay and is still home port to several fishermen.
It is where 12,000 artifacts from the Girona came ashore, the Belgian marine archeologist Robert Stenuit found and excavated this Spanish Armada shipwreck in 1967/68 after it had lain untouched for 380 years, the ship foundered on Lacada Point at the Giants Causeway in 1588.. Recovered items included gold and silver coins, jewellery, silver plate, a bronze cannon, and eleven of twelve 'lapis lazuli' cameos - Frank Madden, the licensee of the site, found the last cameo more recently - making the set complete. There are classic examples of Ulster's Architectural Heritage throughout the village, original thatched cottages, the Old Coastguard Station and the Seaport Lodgebeing built 1770's by the Leslie family as a bathing lodge. The village is adjacent to the Giants Causeway, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Unesco World Heritage Site. |