View source for Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

{{Short description|Bridge in County Antrim, Northern Ireland}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox bridge
| bridge_name = Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
| native_name = Carraig a'Ráid
| native_name_lang = ga
| image = Carrick a rede rope.jpg
| image_size = 200
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| carries = 
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| locale = [[Ballintoy]], [[County Antrim]]
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| design = [[simple suspension bridge]]
| material = rope
| length = {{convert|20|m|ft}}
| width = {{convert|1|m|ft}}
| height = {{convert|30|m|ft}}
| mainspan = 
| spans = 1
| pierswater = 
| load = 8 pedestrians
| clearance = 
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| life = 
| builder = Heyn Construction
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| complete = 
| open = 2008 (current bridge)
| inaugurated = 
| toll = £14 – £15.50 (adult)
£7 – £7.75 (child)
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| heritage = 
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| coordinates = {{coord|55|14|24.13|N|6|19|51.76|W}}
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}}

The '''Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge''' (locally pronounced carrick-a-reed) is a [[simple suspension bridge|rope bridge]] near [[Ballintoy]] in [[County Antrim]], [[Northern Ireland]]. The bridge links the mainland to the tiny island of Carrickarede ({{Irish derived place name|Carraig a' Ráid|rock of the casting}}).<ref name=logainm>{{Cite web|url=https://www.logainm.ie/ga/118086|title=Carraig an Ráid/Carrickarede Island|website=Logainm.ie}}</ref> It spans {{convert|20|m|ft}} and is {{convert|30|m|ft}} above the rocks below.<ref>{{cite web |title=Carrick-a-Rede |url=http://www.carrick-a-rederopebridge.com |accessdate=23 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080328130945/http://www.carrick-a-rederopebridge.com/ |archivedate=28 March 2008 }}</ref> The bridge is mainly a tourist attraction and is owned and maintained by the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/carrick-a-rede|title=Carrick-a-Rede|publisher=National Trust|language=en|access-date=2018-01-25}}</ref> In 2018, the bridge had 485,736 visitors.<ref name="ALVA 2019 visitor numbers">{{cite web |title=ALVA – Association of Leading Visitor Attractions |url=https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423 |website=alva.org.uk |accessdate=23 October 2020}}</ref> The bridge is closed for winter (subject to weather) and people may cross it for a £13.50 to £15.50 (adult) fee.<ref>https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/northern-ireland/carrick-a-rede</ref>

==History==
[[File:(Rope Bridge, Carrick-a-Rede. County Antrim, Ireland) (LOC) (4426684715).jpg|thumb|left|Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, [[Wiktionary:circa|circa]] 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/history/brave-bonkers-old-images-carrick-11544836|title=Brave or bonkers? Rope bridge pics to make you shudder...|last=McCreary|first=Mark|date=2016-06-29|work=belfastlive|access-date=2018-01-25}}</ref> A new bridge, tested up to ten [[tonne]]s, was built with the help of local climbers and [[abseil]]ers in 2000.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishtourism.com/scenic-attractions-in-ireland/carrick-a-rede-rope-bridge/1547|title=Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge {{!}} Scenic Attractions Ireland|website=irishtourism.com|access-date=2018-01-25}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article.aspx?art_id=61 |title=New Rope Bridge For Carrick-a-Rede |access-date=30 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609033523/http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article.aspx?art_id=61 |archivedate=9 June 2008}}</ref> 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 boat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/worlds-scariest-bridges|title=World's Scariest Bridges|website=Travel + Leisure}}</ref>

On 24 May 2017, a routine inspection revealed that the bridge's structural ropes had been damaged overnight in an act of vandalism.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/carrick-a-rede/news/vandalism-closes-carrick-a-rede-rope-bridge- |title=Vandalism closes Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge |publisher=National Trust | date = 25 May 2017 |access-date = 25 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525123203/https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/carrick-a-rede/news/vandalism-closes-carrick-a-rede-rope-bridge- |archive-date = 25 May 2017}}</ref> The National Trust announced that the bridge would be closed "for the foreseeable future".<ref name="herald-2017-05-25">{{cite news | url = http://www.herald.ie/news/rope-bridge-closed-after-vandals-try-to-cut-it-down-35753465.html | title = Rope bridge closed after vandals try to cut it down | newspaper = [[Evening Herald]] | location = Dublin | first = David | last = Young | date = 25 May 2017 | access-date = 25 May 2017 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20170525123355/http://www.herald.ie/news/rope-bridge-closed-after-vandals-try-to-cut-it-down-35753465.html | archive-date = 25 May 2017 | url-status = dead }}</ref> However, on the following day it was announced that structural engineers had completed repairs, and that the bridge had been reopened.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/NTCarrickarede/status/867674350757052417 |title=Good news! Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge has reopened |date=25 May 2017 |author=National Trust Carrick-a-Rede |via=Twitter |access-date=25 May 2017 |archive-date=25 May 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170525124724/https://twitter.com/NTCarrickarede/status/867674350757052417 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Fishing==
It is no longer used by fishermen during the salmon season, which used to last from June until September, as there are now very few salmon left. In the 1960s, almost 300 fish were caught each day, but by 2002, only 250 were caught over the whole season. The salmon come through the area to spawn in the [[River Bann]] and the [[River Bush]].<ref name="auto"/>

==Features==
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.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

==Geology==
Carrickarede island is the best example of a [[volcanic plug]] in Northern Ireland. [[Seawater|Marine]] [[erosion]] has exposed a section through the neck of this old volcano.<ref name="habitas">Habitas, Earth Science Conservation Review, National Museums Northern Ireland, [http://www.habitas.org.uk/escr/site.asp?Item=1145 Ballintoy – Ballycastle]</ref>

The presence of [[tuff]], [[breccia#Volcanic|explosion breccias]], grey [[volcanic ash]] and [[volcanic bombs|explosion bombs]] show the extreme violence of the eruptions [[Paleogene|about 60 million years ago]] when molten rock punched its way through [[chalk]].<ref name="habitassummary">Habitas, Earth Science Conservation Review, National Museums Northern Ireland, [http://www.habitas.org.uk/escr/summary.asp?item=1145 Ballintoy – Ballycastle (summary)]</ref>

Along the coast of this area, as with much of the Antrim plateau, the cliffs are of [[basalt]] with the [[Ulster White Limestone Group|characteristic Ulster chalk]] underneath. At Carrickarede, the ancient [[volcanic pipe]] has left [[dolerite]], a tougher rock than basalt, which erodes more slowly. Behind the dolerite, to the south, the vent is filled with [[pyroclastic rocks]] that break down more easily, mostly a coarse tuff [[agglomerate]]. The combination of the hard rock out front and the softer rock behind, with long-term erosion by the waves, has eventually left this small island.<ref name="habitas"/>

==In popular culture==
{{Wikisource|Letitia_Elizabeth_Landon_(L._E._L.)_in_Fisher%27s_Drawing_Room_Scrap_Book,_1832/Carrick-a-Rede, Ireland|Carrick-a-Rede, a poetical illustration by L. E. L.}}
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).<ref>{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1832|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=8MpcAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PP28|section=picture|year=1831|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1832|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=8MpcAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PP31|section=poetical illustration|page=9|year=1831|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}</ref>

[[Seamus Heaney]] describes the bridge in his 1978 poem ''A Postcard from North Antrim:''<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Muldoon|editor-first1=Paul|title=The Faber book of contemporary Irish poetry|url=https://archive.org/details/faberbookofconte00muld|url-access=registration|date=1999|publisher=Faber and Faber|location=London [u.a.]|isbn=0-571-13761-X|edition=[11. print]}}</ref>
<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>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Rope Bridge, Carrick-a-Rede. County Antrim, Ireland-LCCN2002717354.jpg|[[Photochrom]] of the Bridge, c. 1890
Image:Carrick-a-rede.jpg|Bridge structure, 2004
Image:Carrick-a-rede rope bridge.jpg|Bridge structure, 2005
Image:Carrick-a-Rede July 06.jpg|Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, 2006
Image:Carrick-a-Rede, touwbrug vanaf het eiland.jpg|Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, 2007
Image:Carrick_a_rede_2010.jpeg|Bridge in use 2010
File:Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Northern Ireland - Diliff.jpg|View of the bridge and island
File:Carrick-a-rede rope bridge 2.jpg|The bridge in 2017
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Simple suspension bridge#Notable bridges|List of notable pedestrian bridges]]
* [[List of tourist attractions in Ireland]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge}}
*[https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/carrick-a-rede National Trust – Carrick-a-Rede]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080609033523/http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article.aspx?art_id=61 New Rope Bridge for Carrick-a-Rede. CultureNorthernIreland.org Feature]

{{Museums and galleries in Northern Ireland}}
{{Geology of Northern Ireland}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bridges completed in the 17th century]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in County Antrim]]
[[Category:National Trust properties in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Northern Ireland coast]]
[[Category:Pedestrian bridges in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Bridges in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Ropework]]
[[Category:Suspension bridges in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in County Antrim]]
[[Category:Simple suspension bridges]]
[[Category:Volcanic plugs of Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Toll bridges in Northern Ireland]]