Bangor and District Amateur Radio Society and Rathlin Island

We've been to Rathlin Island before in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006 and we are going again in 2007.

General Facts

Rathlin Island lies 6 miles off Ballycastle in Northern Ireland and 16 miles from the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. It is about eight miles long and less than one mile wide.

As can be seen from the map, the Island spans three WAB squares, D05, D15 and D14. Most of our operation has been from square D15. The longitude is 6° 10' West and the latitude is 55° 20' North.

The island is surrounded by limestone and basalt sea cliffs reaching 470 ft in places. There are three lighthouses and over 40 recorded shipwrecks.

Before the potato famine 1200 people lived here, now there are about 100.

Over 60 percent of the island's annual energy requirement is provided by wind. There are three turbines, battery storage and also a backup diesel generator.

Rathlin Island has some interesting history and one or two legends, some of which are listed below.

Some radio history

In May 1898 Lloyds of London invited Marconi to install an experimental wireless link between Rathlin Island and Ballycastle. Marconi was unable to go to Rathlin straight away and gave the task to his assistant, George Kemp who in turn engaged the services of a graduate from Trinity College Dublin, Edward Glanville.

On the 6th July 1898 the first wireless signal contact between Ballycastle on the mainland and Rathlin Island was made.

On the 21st July 1898 Edward Glanville died when he fell over a 300 hundred foot cliff. The coffin containing his body was taken to the mainland by steamer and was met by Glanville’s Father and Marconi. According to Kemp’s diary, Marconi arrived in Ballycastle on August 29th. He stayed four days and left for London on the 2nd September taking all the equipment with him.

Did you know that Marconi's mother was Irish?

Legends

Legend tells us that this L-shaped treeless island owes its origin to the mother of the great giant Finn MacCool.

It is said that this great giant had drained Ireland dry of all it's whiskey, so his mother headed off to Scotland to try and acquire some there. In her apron she carried "a mountain including trees, rivers and all" to use as a stepping stone to Scotland. Nearly half way across she tripped and fell, dropping her contents, which formed the island, into the sea - with her pinned underneath it. Hence the old saying to this day when a storm blows up "The oul witch is kickin".

The island is also famous for "Bruce's Cave". The cave is below the East lighthouse and is where Robert The Bruce was said to have sought refuge in 1306 after his defeat by the English at Perth in Scotland. As he sat in the cave, he caught sight of a spider that repeatedly tried to reach the cave roof by its thread. It eventually succeeded. He concluded "If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again" and thus he returned to Scotland and defeated the English at Bannockburn.

It was during the time of Robert the Bruce's exile on Rathlin that there was an argument as to whether Rathlin was a part of Scotland or Ireland. As there were no snakes on Rathlin it was decided that it must be part of Ireland (St Patrick had chased all the snakes out of Ireland).

Further Reading

If you enjoy reading, you can purchase the book "Turbulent Priests" by Colin Bateman. It is an excellent comedy, which is based on the Island (Though the name has been changed slightly).