Northern Ireland
© Mike Faherty · CC BY-SA 2.0 Cushendall Beach
Pebble and quartz beach below Lurigethan in the Glens of Antrim, known locally for sea glass marbles.
About Ballycastle Beach
Ballycastle Beach runs about 1.2 km from the marina pier to Pans Rock and is mostly sand with some shingle. The town had an 18th-century bottle glassworks beside the old harbour, and a local history site says lumps of glass can still be found on the beach. A Northern Irish sea glass jeweller lists Ballycastle among the beaches she collects from.
Sea glass at Ballycastle Beach
Glass from the old Ballycastle glassworks still turns up on the beach. Colours aren't recorded by the sources; the shingle near the marina end is the closest to the old glassworks site.
Visiting Ballycastle Beach
- Safety
- Check the tide times before you go and head out on a falling tide, so you're never cut off. Keep away from the bottom of cliffs, wear sturdy shoes on rocks, and only take sea glass and other man-made rubbish: pebbles, sand and shells should stay on the beach.
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Sources
- copperrainbow.com : NI sea glass jeweller lists Ballycastle as one of its collecting beaches
- antrimhistory.net : History of Ballycastle's 18th-century glassworks by the Inner Dock ('Glass Island'); says lumps of glass can still be found on the beach
Last updated 23 October 2026
Nearby
All beaches in Northern Ireland More sea glass beaches near Ballycastle
Northern Ireland
© Mike Faherty · CC BY-SA 2.0 
Northern Ireland
© Mike Faherty · CC BY-SA 2.0 Glenarm Beach
Sheltered pebbly bay by Glenarm harbour on the Causeway Coastal Route, a favourite of Antrim sea glass jewellers.
Northern Ireland
© Alex Liivet from Chester, United Kingdom · CC0 Carrickfergus Castle Shore
Shingle shore below Carrickfergus Castle and along Scotch Quarter, worked by local sea glass jewellers on Belfast Lough.
County Donegal
Lisfannon Beach
A long strand on Lough Swilly, the sea glass beach collectors in north-west Ireland name first, with glass gathering among its rocky patches.