Harbour, glen and garden
Glenarm
A small North Channel bay where the wooded Glenarm Glen and river meet a historic limestone harbour, coastal paths and castle grounds.
- Setting
- The first of the nine Glens of Antrim north from Larne
- Easy walk
- A flat, 500 m coastal walk about one mile south of Glenarm
- Historic garden
- Four acres laid out in the 1820s
The Fox verdict
A compact coastal base with several ways into the landscape
Glenarm combines an old limestone harbour, an award-winning walled garden, short coastal and forest walks, and unusually rich church history.
The village works especially well when a visit mixes the level Coastal Path or the Red Squirrel Trail with the castle garden and a food stop. St Patrick’s adds the castellated tower, octagonal spire and Franciscan-friary remains, while the marina keeps the village’s limestone-harbour story visible.
Where to go
Places in Glenarm
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesGlenarm Castle Walled Garden
The present four-acre garden was laid out in the 1820s and renewed with restored Victorian glasshouses, orchard compartments and a spiral grassy mount; it won Historic Houses’ Garden of the Year in 2023.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 90 minutes
- Locality
- Glenarm Castle
- Access
- The garden and Woodland Walk share an admission ticket.
Glenarm Forest
A forest walk along the Glenarm River, past squirrel feeders and wild garlic, with views across the river to the castle.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: About 1½ hours
- Locality
- Glenarm Forest
- Access
- The looped tracks include a sloping descent and stepped ascent.
Cove
An independent coffee shop serving sourdough toasties, homemade soup, all-day breakfast bagels and baps, yoghurt bowls, bakes and cakes among local art and ceramics.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- 2 Castle Street
- Access
- Dog-friendly, with sit-in and takeaway food and outside seating.
Food & drink
1 placeThe Coast Road Inn
A small traditional local with a friendly atmosphere, local drinks and cosy décor; the public house is B2 listed.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- 3 Toberwine Street
Walks & outdoors
1 placeGlenarm Coastal Path and Shoreline
A 500 m limestone-chipping walkway between two small car parks, with sea views and limestone cliffs.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 30 minutes for an out-and-back walk
- Locality
- Beside the A2, about one mile south of Glenarm
- Access
- The main path is flat and surfaced with small stones; a separate worn track leads down to the pebbly shore.
History & heritage
2 placesGlenarm Marina
A marina within Glenarm’s historic limestone harbour, where the village’s vanished industrial layer includes a limestone tunnel, courtyard and octagonal chimney.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 30 minutes
- Locality
- historic limestone harbour
- Access
- The marina has toilets, showers, laundry, Wi-Fi and an accessible berth with hoist for visiting boats.
St Patrick’s Church of Ireland
Built around 1763–69 and enlarged in the nineteenth century, this B+ church has a castellated tower, octagonal spire, a 1759 clock, a 1758 bell and visible Franciscan-friary ruins.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Tickmacrevan parish
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Three ways to explore Glenarm
Signature outings
The limestone harbour
See the marina within the historic harbour and the surviving industrial features that recall Glenarm’s limestone trade.
Strawberry Hill gothick
Look for St Patrick’s castellated tower, octagonal spire and the visible ruins of the Franciscan friary founded here in 1465.
A garden renewed
Explore the four-acre garden’s restored Victorian glasshouses, orchard compartments and spiral grassy mount.
The village story
Glenarm Village Guide
From the old limestone harbour to the castle garden, forest paths and a church with deep layers of history.
Harbour and Toberwine Street
The marina at Glenarm sits inside the old limestone harbour, once used to quarry and ship out the local stone. The harbour still has toilets, showers, laundry and Wi-Fi for anyone who arrives by water. This is the first of the nine Glens of Antrim as you drive north from Larne, the point where a wooded glen and its salmon river come down to a small bay on the North Channel. On a clear day the Mull of Kintyre and Jura stand up across the water.
Toberwine Street runs up from the harbour towards the village. Near its foot, the Coast Road Inn is a small traditional local close to the marina. The same street holds a former courthouse, now Glenarm Baptist Church, and the old Antrim Arms Hotel, now a house.
Coffee, tea room and castle shop
For daytime food, Cove at 2 Castle Street is the obvious stop, a dog-friendly coffee shop that sits people in among local art and ceramics. The kitchen does sourdough toasties, homemade soup, all-day breakfast bagels and baps, Greek yoghurt bowls and its own bakes and cakes.
The castle, at the edge of the village, has its own places to eat and shop. The tea room, in what used to be the estate's mushroom house, cooks Chef Sean Moran's menu around Glenarm Shorthorn Beef and Glenarm Organic Salmon; the Castle Shop sells the beef and a smoked version of the salmon to take home.
Garden, coast and forest
The four-acre walled garden was laid out in the 1820s to grow fruit and vegetables and has been brought back with restored Victorian glasshouses, orchard compartments and a spiral grassy mount. It won Historic Houses' Garden of the Year in 2023.
The walks offer different terrain. About one mile south of the village, the flat, stone-surfaced coastal walk runs for 500 m between two car parks beside the A2, with views of limestone cliffs and the sea. In Glenarm Forest, the red trail is a two-mile loop with a sloping descent and stepped ascent; it passes squirrel feeders along the river, where red squirrels were introduced in the 1970s. For families, the sea-themed play park has a large Robinia ship, dolphin springers, an inclusive seesaw and a wheelchair-accessible roundabout. It received a William Keown Trust Prestige Award for accessibility.
Church history and a hillside climb
St Patrick's, the Church of Ireland parish church, was built between about 1763 and 1769. It is Ireland's earliest known ecclesiastical example of Strawberry Hill "gothick", with a castellated tower, an octagonal spire, a Benson of Whitehaven clock dated 1759 and, in the churchyard, the ruins of a Franciscan friary founded in 1465. Shane O'Neill is reputedly buried there without his head. Thackeray, passing through in 1843, thought it "grave looking" but allowed it a "beautiful steeple".
The steepest of the walks, Artie's Way, climbs out of the village by the old mill waterway to views of the village, castle and bay. Arthur O'Hara made it by pushing barrow-loads of beach stone uphill, and residents still tend the planting and seats along it.
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A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- Glenarm Marina — midandeastantrim.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Glenarm Castle Walled Garden — glenarmcastle.com operator, sector body or destination organisation
- St Patrick’s Church of Ireland — apps.communities-ni.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Glenarm Coastal Path and Shoreline — shapedbyseaandstone.com other published source
- Glenarm Forest — shapedbyseaandstone.com statutory register or public authority
- Cove — covecoffeeglenarm.com operator, sector body or destination organisation
- The Coast Road Inn — shapedbyseaandstone.com other published source