Portrush Co. Antrim

Portrush is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim built on a peninsula, Ramore Head. Like many other seaside resorts it grew substantially in the 19th century following the opening of the railway, served by the Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Portrush Junction Railway in 1855.

Described in the 1868 edition of The National gazetteer : a topographical dictionary of the British Islands as “a station on the Belfast and Northern Counties railway. It is a sub-port to Coleraine. The town stands at the extremity of a peninsula very near the basaltic formation known as the Skerries. It is the resort of numerous visitors in the bathing season. The Giant’s Causeway is about 6 miles distant. There is a commodious harnour and pier. A considerable coasting and export trade is carried on. ”

By the turn of the 20th century Portrush had become one of the major resort towns of Ireland, with a number of large hotels and boarding houses including the prominent Northern Counties Hotel. As well as the town’s beaches and the golf links, the nearby Giant’s Causeway was a popular tourist destination.