Beautifully situated on the famous Antrim Coast Road, Carnlough village is 14 miles north of Larne on the A42.
Glencloy; the second of the Nine Glens of Antrim, known as the 'Glen of the hedges', gives Carnlough a magnificent backdrop. Of the many local tales of how the village of Carnlough got its name the most popular relates to Ireland's own patron saint.
According to local legend Saint Patrick, (Born Patricius Magonus Sucatus in Scotland.) founded a Christian group in Glencloy. One day leaving La, one of his disciples, in charge of all new converts, while he went off and converted the beautiful daughters of King Loaghaire to Christianity. (Alternatively he may have been on a pilgrimage to see the Pope in Rome.) The King himself remained true to the religion of his ancestors.
La's leadership was a little slack and one by one the new converts gradually returned to their old pagan ways. On Saint Patrick's return he was more than a little angry with his disciple. La overcome by remorse chopped off his own hand and had it buried beneath a cairn – known as ‘Cairn of La’. This Memorial Cairn may have been built on the site of the present Carnlough Integrated Primary School.

A Brief History of a long time ago………

The first fishermen and hunters arrived in Glencloy around 6000 BC. That’s over 8000 years ago, give or take a few weeks. These primitive early valley settlers, the first residents of Carnlough, were attracted to the area by an abundance of flint, which they used to craft tools and weapons. The glen also provided an abundant source of food such as deer, hare and wild pig. The sea was teaming with fish and shellfish were easy to harvest. The area surrounding modern day Carnlough is littered with numerous sites of archaeological significance and bears testimony to the ancient history of the village and its people.
Early visitors to the area were the Vikings and the Norman people. Early in the 14th Century the area came under the control of the warlike MacDonnells, mercenaries originating from the Western Isles of Scotland.
The MacDonnell clan continued to dominate the glen and in the early 17th Century, Randal MacDonnell, the first Earl of Antrim, granted around 25 lowland Scots families leases in the area. in an attempt to improve relations with England. This 'plantation' of the glens gave rise to the unique mixture of Irish and Scots heritage which all visitors can enjoy today.

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