placenamesCushendun
Bun Abhann Duinne
Cushendun’s cottages, Glenmona House and Old Church Centre connect architectural patronage with the literary life of the Glens of Antrim.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Bun Abhann Duinne · Irish · main form · validated name
- Cushendun · English · main form
Place & story
A Cornish-inspired village
Ronald McNeill commissioned Clough Williams-Ellis to design Cushendun's village development in 1912. Its Cornish character reflected the background of McNeill's wife Maud, who came from Penzance. After her death in 1925, Williams-Ellis designed the whitewashed Maud's Cottages in her memory. Most of the village and surrounding Glenmona parkland have been cared for by the National Trust since 1954. [2]
Glenmona rebuilt
Glenmona Lodge originated around 1834 and was subsequently enlarged by Michael Harrison. Ronald McNeill moved there in 1910, but the house was burned by the IRA in 1922. Williams-Ellis designed its replacement around the surviving shell, adding a wing and giving the house its distinctive architectural treatment. The rebuilding formed another part of McNeill's substantial reshaping of Cushendun. [2]
The Old Church Centre
Built in 1840 as a Church of Ireland place of worship, Cushendun's old church was deconsecrated in 2003. Local campaigners then worked for thirteen years to secure its future. The restored Old Church Centre opened in 2019 with National Lottery support, accommodating performances, meetings and heritage activities. Fundraising through the Big Arts Weekend and a book sale helped turn the former church into a community venue. [3]
Moira O’Neill at Rockport Lodge
The poet and novelist Moira O'Neill, born Agnes Nesta Shakespeare Higginson in Mauritius, lived at Rockport Lodge from childhood. Her years in Cushendun, approximately 1874–1896, shaped the local associations of Songs of the Glens of Antrim, published in 1900. She married Walter Clarmont Skrine in the old church in 1896. A blue plaque unveiled there on 19 October 2019 commemorates her literary connection with the village. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Antrim
- Barony
- Cary
- Civil parish
- Culfeightrin
- Coordinates
- 55.11970, -6.05621 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 61874 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Cushendun. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- The history of Cushendun · National Trust
- Cushendun Old Church transformed into community hub,8July2019 · National Lottery Heritage Fund
- Moira O’Neill1864–1955,19October2019 · Cushendun Building Preservation Trust,Old Church Centre
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2021-05-26. How this page was prepared.