House ofMcDonnell

The House of McDonnell stands on Castle Street in Ballycastle, built in 1744 and held by the McDonnell family since 1766 — fourteen generations of one family behind the same bar, which makes it one of the oldest family-run businesses in the country. Its interior is on CAMRA's National Inventory with the top three-star grade, a pub 'of outstanding national historic importance' left substantially unaltered: a long narrow room, the fittings as they were. It opens four days a week and keeps the Friday-night trad session going. There are older buildings in Ireland, but few bars the same family has held since 1766. Phone ahead; the hours are their own.