Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge

1890-1900]] It is thought salmon fishermen have been building bridges to the island for over 350 years. It has taken many forms over the years. In the 1970s it had only one handrail and large gaps between the slats. A new bridge, tested up to ten tonnes, was built with the help of local climbers and abseilers in 2000. Another was built in 2004 and offered visitors and fishermen alike a much safer passage to the island. The current wire rope and Douglas fir bridge was made by Heyn Construction in Belfast and raised early in 2008 at a cost of over £16,000. There have been many instances where visitors, unable to face the walk back across the bridge, have had to be taken off the island by…

There are views of Rathlin Island and Scotland from the area. The site and surrounding area is designated an Area of Special Scientific Interest for its unique geology, flora, and fauna. Underneath there are large caves, which once served as home for boat builders and as shelter during stormy weather.

A plate of this bridge (Artist: Thomas Mann Baynes – Engraved by: J. Davies) appeared in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1832, accompanied by a poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) referring to a gentleman who is supposed to have lived on the island as a hermit at one time (possibly a rebel who had fled out of Scotland). Seamus Heaney describes the bridge in his 1978 poem A Postcard from North Antrim: <poem style="margin-left: 2em;"> A lone figure is waving From the thin line of a bridge Of ropes and slates, slung Dangerously out between The cliff-top and the pillar rock. </poem>